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A Village Burnt Overnight: Tears, Loss and Survival in Dhamangaon Blaze

  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,...

Chain snatchers booked under MCOCA


Acting tough against the chain snatchers, the city police on Monday booked Sachin Peshve and five others, involved in 14 incidents of chain snatching in different parts of city, under Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). Commissioner of Police Dr Ankush Dhanvijay had promised to book the chain snatchers under MCOCA for spreading terror among women and morning walkers and zooming past with their gold chains or Mangalasutra.
Keeping a close watch on gang of accused, Hudkeshwar police nabbed Peshve, a resident of Bajrang Nagar, lane no 11, Manewada road and his associates, when they were about to strike. The gang confessed to various incidents of chain-snatching and cops recovered a huge cache of gold chains from them. Hudkeshwar police has registered offence under sections 393, 411,413 and 34 of the Indian Penal Code against them and also conducted a raid at the premises of Bharat alias Bunty Galbale, a resident of Besa, who purchased the stolen goods. 
The cops have also booked Bunty Galbale under section 3 of MCOCA for helping the gang in disposal of stolen gold chains and mangalsutra. ACP (Ajni) and Senior PI of Hudkeshwar Police Station are investing the matter under the guidance of DCP Zone IV.
Dr Dhanvijay has directed all police stations to keep a close vigil on chain snatchers and slap MCOCA against them. Every police officer has been directed to intensify patrolling, combing, nakabandi, verification of habitual offenders so as to bring down street crimes.

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