6 arrested for racing bikes inside TWLS including former Indian biking champ Zubin Patel

The state forest department recently arrested six persons for trespassing into the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Vasai, for bike racing practise. The arrested

The state forest department recently arrested six persons for trespassing into the Tungareshwar Wildlife Sanctuary, Vasai, for bike racing practise. The arrested accused include Zubin Patel, a bike racer from the 1990s who won rally championships six years in a row and was a national motocross champion.

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The other accused — Firoz Khan, Sagar Ramgade, Amit Kapani, Yogi Chabria, and Bhavesh Bangera — are all residents of the Mumbai Metropolitan Region, said range forest officer (Vasai), Dilip Tonde. They were booked under sections of the Indian Forest Act, 1927, on February 14.

“All six accused have been granted bail on the condition that they help the forest department nab others involved in using the sanctuary as a motorcycle racing track. All six have to be present every Thursday for investigations until we prepare a charge sheet to be submitted before the district court,” said Tonde, adding they have identified six more accused who were involved in the incident. They will be arrested soon, he said.

TWLS is an 85-sqkm protected area with a porous boundary with the western express highway and Kaman-Bhiwandi state highway running along its boundaries.

HT had reported on February 12 that Bangera was part of a biking club that use a road cutting through TWLS for racing practise. Bikers were entering the sanctuary from Sativali zone and exiting from Parol. On February 10, a video was brought to the notice of the forest department by environment group Conservation Action Trust (CAT), following which a detailed investigation was initiated.

Patel told HT that he had entered the sanctuary, but was not racing, nor practicing on the track. “We are regular visitors to TWLS wherein a group of friends go to a small dhaba atop hill, sit, have coffee, and leave. There are another group of over 40 bikers using this zone as a practice track every Sunday, and the six of us are not involved. Only because I am a known personality, my name is being singled out,” said Patel.

Tonde, however, said, “We have verified versions from other bikers who were arrested, and managed to identify 12 people who are involved on Sundays. There is no proof of 40-odd bikers entering the park.”

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