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,...
Sex racket busted SLEUTHS of Local Crime Branch of Nagpur Rural Police busted a prostitution racket at Ashiyana Bar & Restaurant in Khaperkheda area and arrested four persons, including a girl, in this connection on Tuesday evening. Police claimed that the manager of the bar & restaurant was allegedly providing commercial sex workers (CSWs) to customers. The accused have been identified as bar manager Rajesh Kumar Singh (25), a resident of Nagpur, waiter, Baba alias Mamaji Saraf (55), a resident of Ayodhya Nagar, pimp Rauf Khan Ramjan Khan (38), a resident of Mahal, near Ayachit Mandir, and a 28-year-old commercial sex worker. Acting on a tip off, Police Sub-Inspectors Amol Daund and Prashant Bharte went to the bar posing as customers. They contacted Rauf on his cellphone and asked for a girl for their entertainment. However, Rauf did not respond for five days. On Tuesday, Rauf asked Duand to meet at Dahegaon by-pass for the deal. At 4 pm, ...