Mumbai: The Navi Mumbai police have begun a crackdown on closed factories and godowns, which have turned into a hub for illegal activities of alcohol and drug smuggling.
Police will increase patrolling to keep a check on the criminal activities. Police will also take preventive measures and make arrests, if people are found purchasing or peddling drugs.
After a recent seizure of country liquor worth Rs1.25 crore, police have tightened the security around such factories to maintain law and order.
As oer police sources, the factories, which have been shut down near Belapur Industrial Estate in Navi Mumbai, have turned into a hub for anti-social activities like drug peddling, sexual harassment, posing a security threat to people in the neighbourhoods.
Police said since there is practically no security around these closed factories. It provides an excellent shelter to criminals to conduct nefarious activities. Recently, a murder and a drug seizure were reported.
In the first incident on July 12, three workers were found dead in a closed godown where an illegal scrap business was being run. The deceased, Rajesh Pal, (30), Irshad Khan, (20) and his brother Naushad, (19), worked at a scrap factory and lived in a godown closed for the last three years.
Police said there was no security check since many godowns were unauthorised. The second incident occurred on July 10, when Turbhe MIDC police arrested two persons and seized illicit country liquor worth Rs1.25 crore.
The Navi Mumbai police have constituted four special teams to patrol around the closed factories and keep a close watch. The motive behind patrolling is to prevent criminals from taking shelter in such factories and godowns, putting an end to nefarious activities operating out of the area.
Recently, the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation had released a list of dangerous buildings in city. The closed factories were vacated, claiming to be a dangerous structure.
However, they did not make it to the list. Subsequently, the criminals and drug dealers started using closed firms as a hub for anti-social activities, said a senior cop.
