Mumbai: Secret operation snares mangrove killers

Around 3 am on Thursday, 23 men in civilian clothing crept up to three major exit points to Malad's mangrove forest that is rapidly being gobbled up by shanties, and laid in wait. By the time the sun was up, these undercover forest officials seized three vehicles loaded with tonnes of construction debris meant to be dumped on the trees near Ambhujwadi slums in Malwani. Fifteen people, all pawns of the land mafia, were arrested.

The covert operation orchestrated by the state mangrove cell is one of the biggest in recent years against systematic dumping of debris on mangrove land.

The tip-off had come a day earlier, when the cell grilled the linchpin arrested earlier for hours, and ferreted out details of the movements of the mafiosi. The officials requested that his name not be released, as it could compromise their operations.

"We decided to strike early in the morning, when dumping activity is carried out. The night before, three Range Forest Officers [RFOs], Prashant Deshmukh, Mayur Bothe and Prakash Choudhari, planned the stealth strike," said Makarand Ghodke, assistant conservator of forests (ACF).

"The operation hinged on the element of surprise. The plainclothes staff drove to the site in tempos and trucks seized in earlier raids to avoid suspicion," said RFO Bothe, who drove one of the tempos.

RFO Deshmukh said that the 15 men held at the spot revealed information which led to arrest of two more suspects and seizure of two vehicles by the end of Thursday. More arrests are expected to follow in the coming weeks.