A day after he was arrested by the police from Kalyan in Thane district, sculptor Jaydeep Apte — who built 35-feet tall statue that crashed at Rajkot fort in coastal Konkan region on August 26 — was remanded to police custody till September 10 by a Sindhudurg court.   

Also remanded to police custody till September 10 was technical consultant Chetan Patil, who had worked in tandem with Apte in the erection of Shivaji statue at Malvan in Sindhudurg district  

Apte is the sculptor-contractor from Thane, while Patil structural consultant from Kolhapur.

Apte, who had been absconding for the past one week after the collapse of the Shivaji statue, was arrested from Kalyan on Wednesday night.

Patil had been arrested from Kolhapur on August 30. After his remand ended on Thursday, he was produced before a Sindhudurg court which remanded in further police custody till September 10.    Five police teams had been formed to search for Apte. A look-out notice had been issued against Apte to ensure that he did not flee the country. f

After the incident, the Sindhudurg police had registered offences under Sections 109, 110, 125, 318, and 3(5) of Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS). 

It may be recalled that the iconic Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj — with the sword held high in his right hand – had collapsed at 12.30 pm on August 26 at Rajkot fort at Malvan in Sindhudurg district, within nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4, 2023 as part of the Navy day celebrations.