Kalyan – Jaydeep Apte, a 39-year-old sculptor and alumnus of JJ School of Art, has been arrested in connection with the recent collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji statue. The arrest follows a series of efforts by Apte’s family and friends to persuade him to cooperate with authorities.
Apte, a resident of Kalyan, had been evading the police for several days. He was finally apprehended on Wednesday outside his home, as he returned from a visit to the statue’s site in Malvan. Police sources revealed that Apte’s wife alerted them after he contacted her to say he was coming home. This information led to his immediate arrest by teams from Sindhudurg and Thane police.
The collapse of the 35-foot Shivaji statue has been a significant issue, and Apte’s involvement in the project has come under scrutiny. While his family declined to comment, police sources indicated that they were concerned for Apte’s safety and wanted him to return and assist with the investigation. Apte is now being taken back to Malvan to continue the inquiry.
Apte initially gained recognition in 2019 when he created a bronze bust of a Sikh soldier for the UK-based Sikh Soldier Organisation, which was unveiled in West Yorkshire. He also crafted a statue of Mahatma Gandhi’s son, Manilal, for the Dandi memorial in Gujarat.
The Malvan statue was Apte’s most ambitious project to date, and it has been reported that his lack of experience with large-scale statues may have contributed to the incident. A family friend described Apte as a skilled artist but noted that the project was beyond his previous experience. Despite this, the friend emphasized that Apte is known for his integrity and that the collapse was likely due to an honest mistake rather than corruption.
Apte’s associates describe his family as educated and respectable, with no known controversies. His father worked in a large company, and his sister is settled abroad after marriage.
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