First arrest over Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg
Chetan Patil, the structural consultant named in the FIR related to the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district was arrested in Kolhapur, police said on Friday.
He was arrested late Thursday night and handed over to the Sindhudurg police for further investigation, said Kolhapur superintendent of police Mahendra Pandit.
A resident of Kolhapur, Patil on Wednesday had claimed that he was not the structural consultant for the statue itself. In an interview with Marathi news channel ABP Majha, Patil named in the FIR along with artist Jaydeep Apte explained that he had submitted the platform’s design to the Indian Navy via the state’s public works department (PWD) but was not involved in the statue’s construction.
He also clarified that a Thane-based company handled the statue-related work, while his role was limited to the platform. The 35-foot statue of the 17th-century Maratha warrior king, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Rajkot Fort in Malvan tehsil of Sindhudurg on Navy Day (December 4) last year, collapsed on Monday around 1 pm.
Police said that a contractor has also been arrested in the case.
The incident caused embarrassment for the Eknath Shinde-led state government and sparked criticism and protests from opposition parties. Shinde noted that the statue was designed and constructed by the Indian Navy.
State Congress chief Nana Patole on Thursday claimed that the sculptor who made the statue was close to the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
His comments came after the state cultural affairs minister Sudhir Mungantiwar had said that the sculptor was close to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi.
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.
Meanwhile, the Ajit Pawar-led NCP staged silent protests in Pune and other parts of western Maharashtra on Thursday, demanding action against those responsible for the collapse of the statue.
The Indian Navy said it conceptualised and steered the project of installing the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj’s statue, which collapsed in Maharashtra’s Malvan this week, in coordination with the state government which also provided funding for it.