Loss of the Amazon Rain forest is a loss to the entire mankind: Mumbai Police on Amazon fire in August | Photo of Aarey trees from PTI

The Twitter handle of Mumbai Police which had recently lamented fires in the Amazon rainforest was silent on Saturday as protests erupted against cutting of trees in Mumbai's Aarey Colony.

Mumbai Metro Rail Corporation (MMRC) began chopping down trees to make way for Metro car shed on Friday night after the Bombay High Court (HC) dismissed petitions challenging the permission for tree cutting.

"Loss of the Amazon Rain forest is a loss to the entire mankind. Let us all resolve to protect and conserve our flora and fauna before it's too late," Mumbai Police had tweeted on their official handle on August 28. "If not us, then who? If not now, then when?" #SaveAmazon #SaveMotherEarth," the tweet furhter read.

Loss of the Amazon Rainforest is a loss to the entire Mankind. let us all resolve to protect & conserve our flora & fauna before it's too late.



If not us, then who?

If not now, then when?#SaveAmazon#SaveMotherEarth pic.twitter.com/gpc7xD70Di Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) August 28, 2019

However, on Friday night and Saturday, as more than 200 trees were cut and 29 protesters were arrested in Aarey Colony, the Mumbai Police's Twitter handle was silent. Twitter handle @MumbaiPolice, which has 48 lakh followers, is known for expressing views on variety of issues through text or memes, sometimes in a sarcastic vein.

The last tweet had come on Wednesday, on Mahatma Gandhi's birth anniversary. "On 150th birth anniversary of Bapuji and 115th of Lal Bahadur Shastriji, let's pay tribute to both by walking down the path of truth and simplicity laid down by them," the police had tweeted.

On 150th birth anniversary of Bapuji and 115th of Lal Bahadur Shastriji, let's pay tribute to both by walking down the path of truth and simplicity laid down by them.#GandhiJayanti#LalBahadurShastriJayanti pic.twitter.com/lnZeiG8HsF Mumbai Police (@MumbaiPolice) October 2, 2019

But though Mumbai cops were silent, green activists took to Twitter on Saturday to express anger about cutting of trees and action against protesters.

"If you mean even an ounce of what you say this would not have been happening to people who stood for #SaveAarey, The #India that these leaders dreamed of is just not this. #StopThisMadness of siding people who are out to finish the city through their greedy plans," Twitter user Nayana Harish Pai wrote on Twitter.

Replying to her tweet, another Twitter user Falgun Pawar said, "I guess @MumbaiPolice were busy posting tweets and couldn't tell right from wrong. This is so sad. #SaveAareySaveMumbai."