Mumbai: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertook his tour of Maharashtra the state Congress unit launched a protest against the state and central governments over the destruction of the Shivaji Maharaj statue in Sindhudurg.
Youth Congress leaders and other party workers were detained by Mumbai police on Friday while protesting Prime Minister Narendra Modi's visit to the city, demanding a public apology from him over the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue.
Several posters demanding an apology from the Prime Minister were put up in various locations by the Congress. These posters depicted the PM inaugurating the statue alongside another image showing the collapsed structure.
Mumbai Congress President and Lok Sabha MP Varsha Gaekwad reached the Shivaji Park in Dadar with a miniature statue of Shivaji Maharaj as a mark of protest.
Stepping up her attack on PM Narendra Modi, Varsha Gaikwad on Friday demanded an apology from the Prime Minister over the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue collapse in Malvan, Mahrashtra.
"Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj who is worshipped in the whole of Maharashtra and India, to whom we call "public's king", his statue was made in Malvan's Rajkot Fort, which was inaugurated by PM Modi. First, of all, I want to ask PM Modi Ji about the bhumi-pujan he did for Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue in the Arabian Sea. Before that statue could be completed, his statue at Rajkot Fort in Malvan collapsed in just 8 months. It is clear that there is corruption in it. Modi Ji, when will you apologise (Modi Ji Aap Kab Maafi Mangenge)?" Varsha Gaekwad said.
Earlier in the day, Chetan Patil, the structural consultant of the Shivaji Maharaj statue that collapsed in the Malvan area of Sindhudurg, has been arrested from Kolhapur, said senior officials of Kolhapur Police. A team from the local crime branch of Kolhapur Police had launched an operation to trace Patil and subsequently, he was arrested by the officials at around 12.30 am on Friday from Kolhapur.
The officials have conveyed that he has been handed over to the Sindhudurg Police and will be brought to Sindhudurg today. The Sindhudurg Police has also arrested a contractor in the case.
The 35-foot Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj statue collapsed on August 26. The Statue was unveiled on December 4 last year as part of the Navy Day celebrations conducted, for the first time, in Sindhudurg, aimed at honouring the legacy of the Maratha Navy and Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj towards maritime defence and security, and its historical linkage with the modern Indian Navy.
—ANI