Shivaji statue collapse case: Sindhudurg court extends judicial custody of sculptor Jaydeep Apte

A magistrate court in Sindhudurg on Friday (September 13, 2024) extended judicial custody of prime accused sculptor Jaydeep Apte in the Shivaji statue collapse case till September 24, 2024.

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, 39, is arrested in connection with the collapse of Chhatrapati Shivaji’s statue.

He is the primary accused in the case of the recent collapse of a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji 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 Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj at Rajkot Fort in Malvan which collapsed on August 26, 2024, leading to a huge outrage. 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.

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.