Sitting amid the blackened remains of his home, 32-year-old Nikesh Gawali carefully broke open a half-melted plastic box with a screwdriver. His hands shook slightly, not out of fear, but out of hope. “I’m trying to find my daughter Aarti’s gold earrings,” he said quietly, still focused on the box. “She’s just five. I got them made recently after months of labour work.” The plastic box, warped and blackened by heat, was one of the few things left from his two-room house on the outskirts of Dhamangaon village . All around him lay ash, broken tin sheets and charred wooden beams. The walls had cracked under the heat and the front room’s tin roof had caved in completely. What remained was a blackened debris all around - almost nothing to suggest a home once stood there. Nikesh earns his living as an agricultural labourer, like many in the village. Work is uncertain and depends on the season. Those earrings weren’t just jewellery - they were a small dream, a reward for his hard work,...
A top functionary of Maharashtra Pradesh Youth Congress was involved in a fracas at Ram Nagar Square under the jurisdiction of Ambazari police station. Kunal Raut, General Secretary, State Youth Congress, and son of Dr Nitin Raut, Maharashtra Minister of EGS, and his friends were at the spot. Around same time, Vattamal Thomas Abraham (21), a IIIrd Year student of Priyadarshani College of Engineering, came to drop off his friend, who lived near the Square. Abraham was on the four wheeler and when he tried to move out of the lane, he found two to three four wheelers blocking the road.
The Engineering student asked the youth seated in one of the vehicles to move aside. However, Kunal who was seated in a Toyota Fortunner, was adamant and passed some vulgar comments, claimed Vattamal. He also replied in the same coin.
The exchange of words soon crossed limits and Kunal and his associates allegedly took on Vattamal and dragged him out of his car. The lone student was allegedly attacked. Seeing the incident, some passers-by and people standing nearby rushed to Vattamal’s aid. The scene suddenly changed and the irate mob caught hold of Kunal and his friends and thrashed them for disturbing the peace in the locality.
Bruised and hurt Kunal however did not give-up. He allegedly followed Vattamal till his house at Gandhi Square, Sadar, and created a scene there. Kunal is also alleged to have issued threats to Vattamal. Later Vattamal was shocked when cops from Ambazari police came searching for him.
When contacted Deputy Commissioner of Police, Zone-I, Kailash Kanse, ducked when asked about the fracas. He denied having any information and promised to inquire with Ambazari police and get back. However when he was asked again, DCP Kanse claimed that “he could not contact the concerned PSI looking after the matter” and hence not in a position to provide details.
Till filing of the report, Ambazari police were building pressure on Vattamal to turn himself in and also bring along his car. Kunal, the sources said, was camping at the police station.
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