Maharashtra minister and senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader Chandrakant Patil on Monday sought to end the tussle over his statement on legendary social reformers Babasaheb Ambedkar and Mahatma Phule by tendering an apology and asking that those arrested for the ink attack on him be released.

The ink-throwing incident occurred at Pimpri Chichwad on Saturday in an apparent protest against Patil's statement that Ambedkar and Phule did not seek government grants for running educational institutions.