Those arrested include Sitaram Devkar, Ajay Devkar, Virendra Yadav and Shivaji Pawar
The hydraulic backhoe and dumper seized from them
The Gorai police arrested four men and seized a hydraulic backhoe loader and an earth-filled dumper from them for excavating soil illegally, while patrolling last week.
Those arrested include Sitaram Devkar, Ajay Devkar, Virendra Yadav and Shivaji Pawar. The senior inspector of Gorai police station, Ramesh Nangare said, "They have been booked under Sections 379 (theft), 34 (common intention) of Indian Penal Code and under the provisions of Minor Mineral Extraction Rules."
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The police alerted the tehsildar's office, whose team conducted a survey of the mountain marred by illegal excavation of soil. "After conducting the survey, the tehsildar penalised the arrested men R6.23 lakh for damaging the mountain," Nangare told mid-day.
Sources told mid-day that the earth mafia, armed with heavy hydraulic backhoe machines, load dumpers in the wee hours after damaging the mountains in Gorai where they gather the soil. The earth filled dumpers are sent to nearby developing cities in Mira-Bhayandar, Vasai-Virar and Thane. "The areas adjacent to Mumbai are witnessing a speedy growth in the real estate sector.
The rocky earth excavated from the Gorai-based mountains is in high demand among real estate developers, to whom the mafia sells it for quick money," said the source. Teams of the Gorai police have been patrolling at night in the areas where the earth mafia could damage mountains.
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