Four held for trimming tree branches sans nod

The Gamdevi Police arrested four persons for allegedly trimming the branches of a massive banyan tree at Girgaum Chowpatty last week. The accused hacked the tree allegedly posing as BrihanMumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) labourers to clear the commercial hoarding located nearby a traffic junction.

During the investigation it was revealed that the accused had similarly cut branches of three other trees near Mahalaxmi Temple and in Walkeshwar area as well, said police.

The four have been identified as Sameer Qureshi (31), Shafiq Darji (27), Heeralal Darshan (42) and Mohammad Parvez (27). All four are labourers while the people who gave them the contract are yet to be arrested.

"The four accused have been arrested for impersonating as a public servant (170), wearing garb or carrying token used by public servant with fraudulent intent (171) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) along with the provisions of Maharashtra Preservation of Trees Act," said R Rajbhar, senior inspector of Gamdevi police station.