MUMBAI: The sculptor who made the Bhuleshwar Cha Raja idol, which collapsed during a procession on Sunday and killed two people, recorded his statement before the L T Marg police on Tuesday.
Investigators said he told them that the welding on a frame supporting the massive idol had broken soon after the procession left his workshop in Agripada, forcing it to turn back for repairs.
“We have recorded his statement. The two deceased were trapped beneath the idol’s stomach area, and the fire brigade had to use a crane to lift parts of the structure during the rescue. Police suspect that the same portion of the supporting frame may have failed again, causing the 22-foot idol to collapse near the mandal’s pandal in Bhuleshwar. Sanket Nevshe, 33, the president of the Bhuleshwar Cha Raja mandal, and Brijesh Joshi, 30, were killed in the incident. The Bhuleshwar Cha Raja procession had left Desai’s workshop at Bakri Adda in Agripada on Sunday when the welding on the supporting frame broke barely 100 metres into the journey, according to the police.
He has told us several things, and we are verifying them,” an officer from the L T Marg police station said. Police said they have also found prima facie that the PoP was still wet when the accident occurred, which may have made the idol heavier and complicated the rescue operation. Sculptor Aniket Desai, who police said had been out of contact following the accident, recorded his statement with investigators on Tuesday.
“We have registered accidental death reports in the matter. A case has not yet been registered as the investigation is still underway.”
Police said they have seized material from the spot, including samples of the Plaster of Paris (PoP) used to make the idol, which will be sent to the Kalina Forensic Science Laboratory as part of the investigation. “We are trying to ascertain whether there were lapses in the construction or installation that led to the incident,” the officer said.
