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,...
By Dheeraj Fartode
Villagers of Kodamendhi village blocked Ramtek-Bhandara state highway and ransacked vehicles including a police jeep and MSRTC’s bus after one police officer allegedly thrashed a rice mill owner on Monday.
Demanding suspension of Police Inspector of Ramtek Police station, Kishor Gavai, the irked villagers launched protest on the state highway.
Cops resorted to mild lathi charge to disperse the angry mob and clear the highway. The villagers torched some tyres on the road and created ruckus to press their demand to take action against police official for his alleged high-handed act. The protest continued for around five hours. Additional Superintendent of Police Prakash Jadhav intervened into the matter and pacified angry villagers.
Raghunath Deshmukh (42), a rice mill owner was heading towards Kodamendhi village with his tractor. PI Gavai and staff were in front of his vehicle in a police jeep. Deshmukh accelerated his tractor and tried to overtake the jeep, in the process posing a danger to police vehicle. The act of Deshmukh irked PI Gavai and he blocked the tractor. As per the reports, Gavai allegedly pulled up Deshmukh from tractor and thrashed him with help of police staff.
 |
| Irked villagers protesting on state highway. |
News of the incident spread into the Kodamendhi village and hundreds of villagers gathered on the road and resorted to heavy sloganeering against police. Some villagers torched tyres on the road. Staff of Ramtek police station arrived at the spot and cane charged to disperse the mob. Angry villagers ransacked MSRTC’s bus and SDPO Deepak Salunke’s official Jeep. They also pelted stones at police in which many of them sustained injuries. The angry mob also retalitated police lathi charge and manhandled some of the police personnel and according to eye-witnesses thrashed them black and blue.
 |
| MLA Adv Ashish Jaiswal talking with the protesters. |
Political leaders including MLA Adv Ashish Jaiswal, ZP member Babita Sathawane, Ashok Hatwar, state general secretary of NCP Sadanand Nimkar and others arrived at the spot. Additional SP Prakash Jadhav too arrived at the spot and discussed the issue with Raghunath Deshmukh and his relatives. Addl SP Jadhav assured them to conduct a genuine inquiry in the case. Jadhav told ‘The Hitavada’ that additional force has been deployed at the spot and action will be taken if the officer is found guilty in the case.
Comments
Post a Comment