Today(5th September), A local court in Sindhudurg has remanded sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil in custody until September 10 over the collapse of a 35-foot Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue. The incident, which happened on August 26, has prompted a detailed investigation into the statue’s construction and structural integrity.
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MUMBAI: Today(5th September), a local court in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district has remanded sculptor-contractor Jaydeep Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil in police custody until September 10. Both individuals are under investigation for their alleged involvement in the collapse of a 35-foot statue of the revered Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, located at the historic Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil, Sindhudurg district.
The incident, which took place on August 26, occurred nearly nine months after the statue was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. This collapse has raised serious questions regarding the statue’s construction and structural integrity, leading to a thorough investigation by the local authorities.
The arrest of Chetan Patil, a structural consultant from Kolhapur, took place on August 30, following a detailed probe into the statue’s collapse. Shortly afterward, Jaydeep Apte, the sculptor responsible for creating the statue, was also apprehended. Apte, who hails from Kalyan in Thane district, was taken into custody on Wednesday night, almost 10 days after the First Information Report (FIR) was filed against him and Patil in connection with the incident.
Following their arrests, both Apte and Patil were presented before the Malvan court, where the police requested an extended remand to continue their interrogation. The court agreed, remanding the two in police custody until September 10 to assist in further investigation.
During the hearing, Ganesh Sovani, the legal representative for Jaydeep Apte, mentioned that his client had planned to surrender voluntarily the previous night and had no intention of evading the authorities.
“He is willing to submit to the police with all details related to the statue’s design and other relevant documents.”
-said Sovani.
Apte is fully cooperative with the ongoing investigation, and through his lawyer, he expressed his readiness to provide the police with any necessary documentation that could aid in understanding the structural collapse.
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The 35-foot statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj was an important project, designed and sculpted by Jaydeep Apte, a well-known artist based in Thane. The statue stood tall for nearly nine months after its grand inauguration by the Prime Minister but tragically collapsed in August, shocking local residents and raising concerns about the quality and structural integrity of the monument.
The police are closely examining whether negligence played a role in the collapse, particularly in relation to the design and construction oversight provided by Apte and Patil. The authorities have registered a case against both individuals under sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), which pertain to negligence and related offences.
