Sep 05, 2024 12:34 PM IST
The Maharashtra Police on Wednesday night arrested sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue.
The Maharashtra police on Wednesday night arrested sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue at the Rajkot Fort in Malvan. Apte, who went missing after the incident, was nabbed from Kalyan in Thane district nearly 10 days after an FIR was filed against him.
Who is Jaydeep Apte and why was he arrested?
Jaydeep Apte, 24, is a Thane-based sculptor who reportedly owns an art company in Kalyan. He was responsible for creating the 35-foot Shivaji Maharaj statue, which was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi last year.
Jaydeep Apte reportedly had no prior experience in constructing large statues.
The Sindhudurg police had filed an FIR against Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for the collapse of the statue last month under Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) sections for negligence and other offences.
While Patil was arrested from Kolhapur last week, Apte was untraceable. Following this, the police had formed seven teams to look for him.
Also read: Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse: ‘Sculptor was close to RSS’, alleges Congress
Shivaji statue collapse: 7 teams were formed
The Sindhudurg police had formed seven teams to track down Jaydeep Apte. A joint technical committee of five members visited the fort at Malvan during on Wednesday and examined the site, said an official. Police had been searching for Apte since the statue collapsed.
A Look Out Circular (LOC) too was issued to stop Apte from leaving the country. Teams of Sindhudurg police were searching for him at several places including Mumbai, Thane and Kolhapur. A police team visited Apte’s residence in Kalyan town of Thane district, but it was locked, the official said.
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse
Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s 35-foot statue at the Rajkot Fort in Malvan collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it. According to the state public works department, the statue’s construction was of “poor quality,” and its nuts and bolts rusted.
The incident sparked massive outrage across the state, with the opposition parties demanding Maharashtra chief minister Eknath Shinde’s resignation before the assembly polls.
According to the Opposition, the incident is an “insult to the legacy” of the 17th-century Maratha emperor. The Congress also asked if Modi would apologise for the incident.
Also read: Prime Minister Modi apologises for collapse of Shivaji Maharaj statue in Malvan
Meanwhile, Patil, who is in police custody, claimed that he was not the structural consultant for the project and had only worked on the platform. According to him, he had simply submitted the platform’s design to the Indian Navy through the public works department.
The PWD also blamed the Indian Navy, saying that they were in a “great hurry” to complete the statue before its slated inauguration on the Navy Day function on December 4 last year.
On August 29, the Indian Navy issued a statement, saying that it had conceptualised and steered the project of installing the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in coordination with the state government, which also provided funding for it.
“The Statue was unveiled on 04 Dec 2023 as part of the Navy Day celebrations conducted, for the first time, in Sindhudurg, aimed at honouring the legacy of the Maratha Navy and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj towards maritime defense and security, and its historical linkage with the modern Indian Navy. The project was conceptualised and steered by the Indian Navy, in coordination with the state govt which also provided funding for it”, the statement said.
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