Vasai: The Mira-Bhayander, Vasai-Virar (MBVV) police have begun a crackdown on Vasai’s land mafia after registering a series of FIRs this month. Not stopping at filing FIRs, the MBVV cops have arrested one accused, invoked the Environment Protection Act and also booked two accused under the stringent BNA 111, which is an “organised crime.“Commenting on this development, a senior crime branch officer said that they have invoked BNS 111 (Organised Crime) against the infamous brothers — Arvind Singh and Surendra Singh aka Daara-Randha. While Arvind Singh, aka Daara, has been on the run since the FIR was filed earlier this month, Surendra Singh, aka Randha, was arrested on April 7. The complainant alleged that the brothers did not pay the complete deal amount and were yet to pay around Rs 7 crore. Randha was sent to police remand twice as the crime branch got new clues, the officer added. The officer also confirmed that the two brothers were again booked by the Achole cops (Vasai) last week on charges of cheating and forgery. Randha continues to be in police remand until April 21 in this case. The officer has also confirmed that the VVCMC has been sent a letter asking them to conduct investigations into the illegal constructions carried out at Waghralpada, Waliv East, the plot for which the duo was first booked.In another case, the Waliv cops registered a case on Wednesday against 19 people for illegally dumping construction debris on a plot adjacent to salt pans and mangroves. While most named in the FIR are tribal land owners, two accused are said to be locals, those who had plans to build illegal chawls on the land, which also partially belonged to the revenue department. In this case, the cops arrested one person on Friday, after they registered this case under The Maharashtra Land Revenue Act 1966, The Environment Protection Act 1986 and The Prevention of Damage to Public Property Act 1984, including sections of the BNS. Officials at the Waliv police station said that the arrested accused was allegedly responsible for illegally reclaiming the land parcel by dumping construction debris.
