Engineer named in FIR says he worked on platform, not on Shivaji statue

Pune: A structural engineer named in the case registered in connection with the collapse of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj's statue at Fort Rajkot on Wednesday claimed that he was not the structural consultant for the project.

Speaking to Marathi news channel ABP Majha, Chetan Patil, named in the FIR along with artist Jaydeep Apte, said he had submitted the design of the platform to the Indian Navy through the Public Works Department (PWD), but he had nothing to do with the statue itself.

"A Thane-based company did the statue-related work," he said.

"I was just asked to work on the platform on which the statue was being erected," Patil added.

The 35-foot statue of the 17th century Maratha empire founder, installed at Rajkot Fort in Sindhudurg district's Malvan tehsil collapsed on August 26, nearly nine months after it was unveiled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The incident has snowballed into a major political controversy with the opposition MVA targeting the Shiv Sena-BJP-NCP government and seeking Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's resignation.