Cops drive into restricted area: Thane police team claims didn’t know about eco-sensitive zone
A Thane police team against whom the Matheran police registered a non-cognisable complaint on Sunday for driving into a restricted area has claimed that “no one told them” that a part of the town was a no-vehicle eco-sensitive zone.
A similar complaint has been registered against the driver of the hired car in which the police team was travelling.
Dinesh Sonawane, the lead investigator of the police team which was in Matheran for a gangrape probe, has accused the Matheran police of a “prejudiced mindset” after the complaint was registered against him and three other officers.
Sonawane has claimed that the policemen were not behind the steering wheel.
On Sunday afternoon, Sonawane, an assistant inspector at Thane’s Khadakpada police station, and three other officers reached Matheran to probe a gangrape case, along with an accused.
According to Mahadeo Acharekar, who is in charge of the Matheran police station, the four Thane officers have been booked under Section 43 of the Matheran Act, 1959, which prohibits any vehicular movement in the green zone, along with Sections of the Bombay Police Act and the Motor Vehicles Act.
“A non-cognizable complaint has been filed but none of the officers and the driver of the hired car have been arrested. In this restricted area, not even a bicycle or tricycle is allowed as per the Matheran Act, 1959,” Acharekar said,
Stating that his team was investigating a serious crime of gangrape, Sonewane said they would have not entered the area had someone warned them. “It was my first visit to Matheran. We were not going for a spot panchnama but to recover relevant evidence to link the gangrape incident to the accused.”
According to Sonawane, his car was encircled by locals claiming the hired vehicle violated the law in Matheran.
“I asked the driver to go to the police station while we were completing our investigation. I asked the local police to take appropriate actions on the driver as he drove us into the restricted area … the driver, too, hadn’t visited Matheran before.”
“They (Matheran police) are targeting the (Thane) police by booking them. This shows the prejudiced mindset against police officers … we were not behind the steering wheel,” Sonawane said.
In February 2003, the Union environment and forest ministry had declared the hill station an eco-sensitive area to protect its rich biodiversity. Those visiting the place have to park their cars at the parking lot at Dasturi Point and trek uphill for around 3km or take hand-pulled rickshaws or ride on horsebacks to reach the town centre.
In January 2012, a similar incident had taken place and a driver with a private firm had been booked under the sections of the Environment Protection Act (EPA).
After around five years, in January 2017, the magistrate’s court decided to drop the EPA charges. The court reportedly asked the police to book violators under the Matheran Act.
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