The Shivaji Nagar police on Saturday arrested two brothers, alleged to be the mastermind behind the arson at the Deonar dumping ground, which occurred earlier this year. The accused have been identified as Atikh and Rafiq Khan, and are one of the largest scrap dealers in Shivaji Nagar.
Fires had broken out at the ground on January 28 and March 20, and the smoke reached as far as Wadala. It took several days for firefighters to douse the blaze. The Shivaji Nagar police registered a case of arson under the Indian Penal Code last month and arrested nine persons.
“We arrested one of the accused from Kharghar and the other from Govandi. They were produced in court and have been remanded in our custody till April 25,” said senior police inspector Balasaheb Jadhav, Shivaji Nagar police station.
Officials said the duo would regularly send ragpickers to the ground to start a fire. “The objective was to pick metal to be sold as scrap,” Mr Jadhav said. The police are interrogating the duo to find out for how long the racket has been on. Searches were conducted at the office of the accused.
