Police have started a case against a man who was allegedly found chopping a Mahua tree at Patuli’s Birji Purba Para on Wednesday afternoon.

Police identified the man as Subal Sardar, 60.

“The man was found chopping the tree by one of the officers of Patuli police station while he was on the rounds. The man could not give any satisfactory answer after the officer sought an explanation,” said an officer of Patuli police station.

Anyone in Calcutta who wants to cut a tree must obtain a no-objection certificate from the forest department as well as from the Kolkata Municipal Corporation, said the police. In this case, the man had no such permissions.

Police started a case against the man and informed the forest department, as the offence was cognizable under sections of the West Bengal Trees (Protection and Conservation in Non-Forest Area) Act, 2006.

Sources in the forest department said cutting a tree is allowed only if the tree is found to be causing any damage to a building’s structure, or the branches are dangerously getting entwined with any source of electricity and may cause an accident.

The rules also include planting multiple saplings for every tree that has to be cut down, only under specific conditions as permitted by law.