Sculptor and contractor Jaydeep Apte, who was involved in the construction of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj that collapsed at Rajkot Fort in Maharashtra last month, was arrested from Kalyan in Thane district on Wednesday night, a senior police officer said. The statue created by Apte (24) collapsed on August 26, less than nine months after its inauguration, following which the Sindhudurg police were looking for him. The police had formed seven teams to search for him.
The Malvan police had registered a case against Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for negligence and other offences after the Shivaji statue collapsed. Patil was arrested from Kolhapur last week. Reacting to the arrest of the accused in the incident, BJP leader Pravin Darkar said, “Those who were criticising our government should shut their mouths now. It is true that the police took some time to arrest Jaideep Apte. We are not taking credit for the arrest but the police have done their job.”
Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sushma Andhare said, “The state government should not try to take credit for Apte’s arrest as it is the government’s duty. He was not an ‘underworld don’…he should have been arrested earlier.” Meanwhile, an official said a five-member joint technical committee visited the fort in Malvan during the day and inspected the site. The police have sent samples of the material used in the construction of the statue as well as the platform on which the statue stood to the Forensic Science Laboratory for analysis.