Shivaji Statue Collapse: How Sculptor Jaydeep Apte's Wife Helped Police in His Arrest

Thane: Jaydeep Apte, the sculptor of the Chhatrapati Shivaji that collapsed in Maharashtra a few days ago, was arrested with the help of his wife, according to media reports.

39-year-old artist and former JJ School of Art student, Apte who had been evading authorities after the statue collapse incident came to light, was arrested on Wednesday.

Hailing from Kalyan in Thane district, Apte runs a workshop near his home. He was apprehended outside his house on Wednesday after his family and friends tried to convince him to surrender to police.

According to a leading daily, the sculptor's last known whereabouts were when he and a friend travelled to Malvan 10 days ago to visit the statue installation site. The reports further suggested that that Apte eventually contacted his wife and shared with her his intention to return home. Thereafter, his wife passed on this information to the police,  which led to his arrest. He was nabbed when he was approaching towards his residence to reunite with his family.

The Sindhudurg Police in Maharashtra had constituted seven teams to track down the sculptor who executed the contract to make the statue of the Maratha warrior that collapsed on Rajkot fort last month. Police have been searching for Apte since the statue, inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Navy Day less than nine months ago, collapsed on August 26. 

A Look Out Circular (LOC) too had been issued to stop Apte from leaving the country. Teams of Sindhudurg police searched for him at several places including Mumbai, Thane and Kolhapur. 

After the statue collapsed, Malvan police had registered a case against Apte and structural consultant Chetan Patil for negligence and other offences. Meanwhile, Patil was arrested from Kolhapur last week.