In a major breakthrough, Kolhapur Police arrested Chetan Patil, the structural consultant linked to the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj bronze statue that fell at Rajkot Fort in Malvan, Sindhudurg, on Friday, officials said.
Patil was on the run ever since the structure fell on August 26, which has led to countrywide outrage among the public and politicians. Meanwhile, sculptor Jaydeep Apte continues to be on the run.
Despite joint efforts by six teams of investigating Kolhapur, Sindhudurg, and Thane Police, who were finding it difficult to trace the duo as their mobile phones were switched off, late night, Patil was arrested. He was handed over to Sindhudurg Police, who would take him to Malvan, the site of collapse, where the case is being investigated.
Jaydeep Apte, a resident of Thane, was commissioned the 28-foot statue mounted on a 10-foot pedestal at Rajkot Fort. He too went missing after the case was registered by Malvan Police.
Last year too, in an interview to a Marathi publication, Apte had said though building the stature of such size would take three years normally he completed the work in three months.
Opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has accused the MahaYuti government of corruption in the statue construction and has sought Chief Minister Eknath Shinde, Deputy CM Devendra Fadnavis among others to resign. Deputy CM Ajit Pawar, however, has publicly apologised for the tragedy.
The MVA has, on its part, stepped up protests across the state. It organised a rally that led to a skirmish between Shiv Sena (UBT)-BJP activists in Rajkot Fort areas. More such agitations are planned over the next few days.
Indian Navy said it has constituted a joint technical committee comprising officials from the Government of Maharashtra and experts to probe the incident occurred in freak weather conditions off Sindhudurg.
The statue, unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2023, during Navy Day celebrations, was jointly developed between the Navy and the state government, which funded the entire project.
"The commitment of the Indian Navy is to support all efforts to repair, restore, and re-install the statue at the earliest, in coordination with the commitment of the state government.".
Read also | IMA Suspends Membership of Former RG Kar Principal Sandip Ghosh
