Sindhudurg court remands sculptor in the Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse case

The remaining part of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue which collapsed at Rajkot Killa covered in white plastic sheets in Malvan, Sindhudurg District of Maharashtra.
| Photo Credit: Emmanual Yogini

A magistrate court in Sindhudurg has remanded sculptor Jaydeep Apte, who is arrested in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue, till September 24. Mr. Apte was produced before the judge on Friday (September 13, 2024) by the Malvan police who had sought his judicial custody.

Mr. Apte, 39, is the primary accused in the case of the recent collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in southern Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district is lodged in the Sawantwadi District Jail. The police had earlier issued a lookout circular against the sculptor who had got the contract to build the 35-feet iconic statue of the Maratha warrior king at Rajkot Fort in Malvan. The statue, which collapsed on August 26, led to a huge outrage. Mr. Apte was arrested on September 4 from Kalyan and was produced in Malvan court on September 10. The court had given his custody to police till September 13.  

Representing Mr. Apte, advocate Ganesh Sovani said, “The police have said that they have the right to seek police custody remand back from the magisterial custody remand. But by saying that they have the ‘right to seek’ they have agreed that they were earlier seeking only magisterial custody remand. Custody can be altered by approaching the concerned magistrate if there are any change of circumstances and any further development.” 

Mr. Apte is charged under Sections 109 (attempt to murder), 110 (attempt to commit culpable homicide), 125 (act endangering life and personal safety of others), 318 (cheating), and 3(5) (criminal act with common intention) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita.