The fabricator responsible for the construction of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue, which recently collapsed at a fort in Maharashtra’s Sindhudurg district, has been arrested by the police, reported PTI.
Parmeshwar Ramnaresh Yadav, a resident of Mirzapur in Uttar Pradesh, was taken into custody on Thursday after investigations revealed he had used substandard materials in shaping the 35-foot-tall statue of the Maratha king.
The statue, located at Rajkot fort in Malvan tehsil, was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 4 last year, coinciding with Navy Day celebrations. However, it collapsed on August 26 amid strong winds, sparking a political row and raising concerns over the quality of its construction.
According to police, Yadav had been tasked with welding the statue’s parts together. However, technical analysis conducted after the collapse revealed that inferior quality steel was used, with some parts of the structure showing signs of rust. The welding was also found to be poorly executed, leading to the statue’s failure.
Yadav’s role in the incident was established during the investigation, following which he was arrested. He has been remanded to police custody for three days. Earlier, the police had also arrested the statue’s sculptor-contractor, Jaydeep Apte, and consultant, Chetan Patil, for their roles in the faulty construction.
The investigation continues as authorities scrutinize the materials and methods used in building the statue of the iconic 17th-century Maratha ruler.
(With inputs from PTI)
