BOMBAY, Sept 10: Hardline Hindus plan to tear down the controversial tomb of a 17th century Muslim general on Sunday, in a grim echo of the 1992 razing of a mosque that sparked some of India's worst religious riots.

Thousands of police have been deployed around the tomb near Mahabaleshwar, a hill resort about 250 km from Bombay, to prevent communal violence as tensions rise ahead of elections for the Maharashtra state assembly next month.

Some Hindus want the tomb of the general, Afzal Khan, removed because it lies near the fort of the Hindu king he tried to murder, Shivaji, whom many people worship.

"Afzal Khan is an insult to Hindus. We will climb the hill and demolish his tomb," Vyankatesh Abdeo, a leader of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which started the campaign, told Reuters.

The campaign organizers say they will bring 30,000 people to the site. But police have pledged to stop them damaging the tomb and to prevent any violence. Muslims consider the tomb holy, and for years, several have travelled there. But a year ago authorities closed off the site because of the controversy.

Afzal Khan, an envoy of the Moghul ruler Aurangzeb, met Shivaji to initiate peace talks on the hillock where the tomb - and the ruins of Shivaji's Pratapgadh fort - now lie.

The general met Shivaji, but the king stabbed him and buried Afzal Khan where he fell. A statue of Shivaji now also stands on the hill and a right-wing Hindu political party is named after him - the Shiv Sena, or Shivaji's army.

Organizers of the campaign against the tomb have not explained why they are moving to destroy it now after years of controversy. But the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) - an ally of the VHP and Shiv Sena - hopes to make a comeback in next month's state elections after it was unexpectedly dumped from power in New Delhi in May. -Reuters