Sculptor of collapsed Shivaji Maharaj statue arrested in Thane

Thane: Sculptor Jaydeep Apte, who has been arrested in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue, came to meet his family at Kalyan in Thane district as he wanted to surrender before the police, his counsel has claimed.

Apte, 24, was arrested from near his house in Kalyan on Wednesday night by a team of police.

The police in Sindhudurg district were looking for Apte since the statue made by him and installed at the Rajkot fort in Malvan collapsed on August 26, less than nine months after it was inaugurated. Police had formed seven teams to trace him.

Talking to the reporters late Wednesday night, his counsel advocate Ganesh Sovani said Apte decided to surrender before the police and face legal action instead of applying for a pre-arrest bail.

The decision was made on Wednesday and as per the plan, he came to Kalyan to surrender before the police, he said.

"We had held talks with his family members and decided that it would be proper for Apte to surrender and assist the probe agency," Sovani added.

He also dismissed the police's claim that Apte was hiding.

The police, on the other hand, maintained that they laid a trap and nabbed Apte after receiving a tip-off that he would come to meet his family members in Kalyan.

He was wearing a mask to conceal his identity, an official said.

The collapse of the statue of the iconic founder of the Maratha empire has triggered a huge political row ahead of assembly elections in Maharashtra with the Opposition targeting the Eknath Shinde-led government.

After the statue collapsed, Malvan police registered a case against Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for negligence and other offences. Patil was arrested from Kolhapur last week.