Sindhudurg (Maharashtra) [India], September 5 (HBTV): The sculptor of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, Jaydeep Apte, has been arrested by police, said officials of Sindhudurg Police. 

According to the Sindhudurg Police, Jaydeep Apte was arrested from Thane and will be produced before the competent court later today. 

The police officials said, "Sindhudurg Police has arrested sculptor Jaydeep Apte in connection with the collapse of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj. He has been taken from Thane to Sindhudurg and will be produced before the competent court later today." 

Earlier, Chetan Patil, the structural consultant of the Shivaji Maharaj statue that collapsed in the Malvan area of Sindhudurg, was arrested from Kolhapur. 

The FIR was registered under sections 109, 110, 125, 318, and 3(5) of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS), as confirmed by Sindhudurg Police.

A 35-foot-tall statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg district collapsed on August 26. It was unveiled on December 4 last year as part of Navy Day celebrations and was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi. 

The collapse of the statue of the Maratha state's iconic founder has sparked a significant political war between leaders of the state, with opposition criticising the Eknath Shinde-led government for the collapse. 

Earlier on September 1, Nationalist Congress Party (SCP) supremo Sharad Pawar took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the Shivaji statue collapse in Maharashtra. 

"These rulers are not for your benefit. Narendra Modi says that my relationship with Sharad Pawar is good, he even said that I came holding Pawar Saheb's finger, but now I'm worried about my finger in the current situation. Who came for the inauguration of that statue? Modi... Wherever his hand touches, something goes wrong," said Pawar. 

Maha Vikas Aghadi, on September 1, launched a massive protest in Mumbai against the statue collapse of Shivaji Maharaj in Sindhudurg. UBT Sena Chief Uddhav Thackeray said that Maharashtra's soul has been insulted and the people will never forget those who insulted Chhatrapati Shivaji. 

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that the state government is taking decisions on a war footing for the reconstruction of the statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj, and two committees have been formed, including that to investigate the collapse of the statue in the Malvan area of the state. 

(ANI)