A structural consultant was taken into custody on Friday in relation to the recent collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district.
Chetan Patel was arrested from Kolhapur
Chetan Patil, who lives in Kolhapur, was arrested in the early hours by a combined effort of Kolhapur crime branch and Malvan police. He was later taken into the custody of the Malvan police.
Patil, who was mentioned in the FIR for the incident, had previously rejected any involvement as the structural consultant for the plan. He said he was only responsible for the platform of the statue, with a company in Thane taking care of the statue work.
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Less than nine months after Prime Minister Narendra Modi unveiled it, the 35-foot statue of the 17th-century Maratha warrior king at Rajkot fort in Sindhudurg’s Malvan collapsed around 1 p.m. on Monday, August 26.
The toppling of the statue caused a political controversy in Maharashtra, which is gearing up for elections. The state government established a technical committee to investigate the reason behind the statue’s collapse. The government led by Eknath Shinde also noted that the Indian Navy managed the project.
Navy says it will make all efforts to reinstall statue soon
The Navy took the lead in planning and directing the project to place the Shivaji statue, working closely with the state government that offered the financial support. The Navy affirmed its dedication to helping with all efforts to fix, revive, and reinstall the statue as soon as possible in a statement.
At the same time, NCP members, headed by Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar, organized quiet demonstrations throughout Maharashtra in response to the incident.
Chief Minister Eknath Shinde expressed willingness to bow down and apologize repeatedly to the Maratha warrior for the statue collapse. He also urged opposition parties not to engage in political games regarding this issue.
