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,...
However, the police were groping in dark about the perpetrators involved the sensational street crime that took place in full public view. As a face saving measure, cops detained two anti-socials for questioning in this connection. A resident of Anand Nagar, Amravati, Pradip Vighe is working with Khandelwal Logistics for the past 17 months. As per the instructions of his superiors, Vighe went to Mumbai. He arrived at Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) at around 6.30 pm on Monday. After 15 minutes, he procured two parcels containing gold ornaments from the company’s agent meant for bullion traders in Nagpur, including Dass Jewellers and Sathe Jewellers. With the two parcels, Vighe boarded the Gondia-bound Vidarbha Express (Train No 12105). He kept the bags beneath his berth No 29 in S-8 coach. Vighe’s friend Mahesh Bhupen Singh (36), a resident of Mumbai, was also traveling in the same coach. Mahesh Singh, who deals in supply of plywood, was also coming to Nagpur for his business related work.
After the train arrived at Nagpur, they got down with their respective luggage. They hired an autorickshaw (MH-31/1538) as they first wanted to deposit parcels at the office of Khandelwal Logistics in Jalalpura, Gandhibag. As the autorickshaw took a right turn towards Railway overbridge, three armed robbers blocked their vehicle. Two of them approached Vighe. One of them whipped out a knife at Vighe. He threatened to kill Vighe and Singh, and started snatching bags. Vighe tried to resist but the straps of the two bags got broken. Again issuing life threats to Vighe, Singh and autorickshaw driver Ramesh Gudankwar, they forcibly took the three bags in their possession, boarded the mobike and fled towards Motibag. The autorickshaw driver chased the robbers but they managed to flee with the booty.
Vighe and Singh rushed to Government Railway Police Station in the same autorickshaw to lodge a complaint. The GRP officers directed Vighe to Sadar Police Station. Senior Inspector Rajratna Bansod rushed to the spot after receiving the complaint. Commissioner of Police Dr Ankush Dhanvijay, Deputy Commissioner of Police (Zone II) Mangaljit Siram, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Sadar Division) Anant Thorat and some officers from Crime Branch also visited the spot. Senior police officials ordered Nakabandi and also alerted their Nagpur (Rural) counterparts. Cops launched a search for the robbers on the basis of their description given by Vighe, Singh and driver Gudankwar. On the basis of Vighe’s complaint, Sadar Police registered a case under section 392 and 34 of the India Penal Code.
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