Mumbai: Mumbai police on Saturday imposed Section 144 of the CrPC in Aarey Colony and its surrounding areas as protesters escalated their fight, a day after the court gave its nod to the felling of over 2,500 trees for the Metro project.
Tribals and activists compared the situation at Aarey with the Kashmir clampdown after 38 people were arrested and 55 more were detained by the police. All those arrested were booked under non-bailable sections and produced before a court, which remanded them to judicial custody. Around 1,800 trees have already been axed.
Reacting to arrests, Shiv Sena leader Aditya Thackeray said, “The vigour with which the Mumbai metro 3 is slyly and swiftly cutting down an ecosystem in aarey is shameful and disgusting. How about posting these officials in POK (Pak Occupied Kashmir) giving them charge to destroy terror camps rather than trees?” he asked.
