badri.chatterjee@hindustantimes.com

Four days after carcasses of a leopard and deer were found in Film City, Goregaon, the police on Friday arrested five men, including three living in tribal hamlets in Aarey Milk Colony and two from around Film City.

The decomposed carcasses found near a TV show set brought to light how the area had become a poaching den, with 30 active wire snares (equipment to trap wild animals) across various remote zones.

Led by Girija Desai, Santosh Kank, Sameer Inamdar and other forest staff, the team carried out investigation across different tribal hamlets.

Based on a tip-off, the team first arrested Rahul Habade, 25, who revealed names of Anil Bhoye, 32, and Ganpat Dalvi, 31. Two others – Dashrat Habade, 32, and Mohan Bhoye, 20 – have been arrested. A magistrate court has sent the accused to the forest department’s custody till Monday.

The accused were arrested for violation of the Wildlife Protection Act, 1972.

“We had sought 10-day custody, but we got three days,” said Jitendra Ramgaokar, deputy conservator of forest, Thane territorial wing of the forest department. “While the accused has accepted that they set up the wire snares to trap animals, they have not revealed the reason yet. There seems to be a much bigger nexus.”

MK Rao, additional principal chief conservator of forest (west), state forest department, said, “The accused sold the meat to make quick money. After trapping the leopard, they removed the nails and sold them for a higher value,” he said.

Meanwhile, forest officers continued their search for more active snare traps, this time inside Aarey Colony.

The Wildlife Crime Control Bureau (WCCB) said they will join the forest department in their investigation. “The use of such snares to trap and kill wildlife is increasing,” said M Maranko, deputy regional director, WCCB.

“Placing active snares has become a serious matter of concern and the most prominent form of poaching across the country, especially in south and central India. This incident taking place within Mumbai shows the fearlessness of these poachers,” said Saket Badola, head, TRAFFIC India, a wildlife trade monitoring group. “Tribal people are being used as instruments by poaching groups,” said Krishna Tiwari, founder, Forest and Wildlife Conservation Society.

Senior forest officers met the managing director, Dadasaheb Phalke Chitranagari Film City, and apprised her of the threats posed by poachers across the 550-acre campus and measures to deal with it.

It was then decided that a dedicated team of 10 security officers will patrol areas where snares were found daily and inform the forest department about the status. Regular cleanup activities will be carried out across all film and television sets to ensure wild animals do not get attracted to food waste.

Film City would be have to pay a penalty of ₹25,000 a day if they do not clear wet waste from different areas next to sets within the campus.

First Published: Jan 05, 2019 00:30 IST