BJP MLA, Narayan Kuche and over 40 supporters were arrested for installing a statue of Chhatrapati Shivaji without permission in Maharashtra's Jalna district. The BJP MLA and his supporters brought the statue of Shivaji Maharaj to Pachod Road in Ambad town on Friday and installed it. The police were alerted about this after the status had been installed. Deputy Superintendent, CD Shivgan and local inspector, Anirudh Nandedkar along with a team rushed to the location to stop the installation which was unauthorised.

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People arrested for installation later released

The statue has not been removed from the spot and further action would be taken after consultation with civic and district authorities, sources said. "They were arrested for the act and later released. The MLA did not have permission from authorities to install the statue," said sub-inspector, Sugarve Chate of Ambad police station. Narayan Kuche claimed that the Ambad Municipal Council had earlier passed a resolution to install the statue and he was doing so due to public demand.

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No Progress in Construction of Shivaji Memorial

The Shiv Sena hit out at the BJP-led Maharashtra government over the construction of the Shivaji Memorial on January 18 and asked why it was unsuccessful in putting its stand on the issue before the Supreme Court. This was despite the fact that the government never failed on other issues like 'buying wins' in elections, said Sena. Shiv Sena an ally in the BJP-led government in Maharashtra compared Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's statue construction to Shivaji's memorial, saying that no environmental or technical issues cropped up to stop work for Vallabhbhai Patel's statue.

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'No Change in the Memorial Location'

Maharashtra Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis ruled out the possibility of shifting the proposed Chhatrapati Shivaji Memorial from its present location in the Arabian Sea off Mumbai coast. "There is no reason for changing the location (of Shivaji memorial). The memorial will take shape at the same place. We have (already) begun the work," Fadnavis said. The question for changing the location after one person died when a boat carrying 25 people capsized in the Arabian Sea off the Mumbai coast. The incident happened when the boat was heading to the site of the proposed memorial. The tragedy revived the demand to shift the project on land in the city.

(Inputs from PTI )

Read: ''No Change In Shivaji Memorial Site'' Says Devendra Fadnavis