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

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  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,...
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Gang-rape by Dacoits, attack labourers near Kuhi

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Cops deployed at spot

They entered the huts of labourers, assaulted them, and relieved them of valuables


By Dheeraj Fartode
Sensation, shock, and anger prevailed throughout Nagpur district when a gang of dacoits struck at farm-houses in a few villages in Kuhi tehsil on Friday night, and gang-raped a girl. Nagpur (Rural) Police swung into action and launched a massive manhunt for the accused. On Saturday, cops rounded up three ‘suspects’.

Around 8.30 pm on Friday, five or six motorcycle-borne masked dacoits in the age-group of 25-30 years reached village Chitapur-Tarni. They entered a farm-house reportedly owned by Vijay Bhandarkar, a resident of Nagpur. Deorao Soma Chacherkar, the care-taker, was at the farm-house. The dacoits knocked the door and when Chacherkar opened it, asked him whether he worked at the farm-house of one Bomkar. As he replied in positive, dacoits attacked him with an axe. Chacherkar sustained injuries in the attack. Dacoits also assaulted his wife Tulsabai. Afer looting Rs 200 cash from Chacherkar couple, dacoits sped away from the spot.

Later, the gang of dacoits went to nearby village Dhanoli. There also, they turned to a farm-house owned by Bhanudas Borkar. The dacoits demanded money from care-taker, who refused to yield. Irked by this, the dacoits assaulted him, his wife, and son with sticks and injured them. When 18-year-old girl of the care-taker tried to intervene, the dacoits locked her up in a room and later gang-raped her.

After committing the heinous crime, the dacoits sped towards another nearby villages Sitapur and Dipala. There also, they entered the huts of labourers, assaulted them, and relieved them of valuables. At Sitapur, the dacoits assaulted Tumbaji Sudam Khobragade and snatched away a gold ornament worth Rs 15,000. At Dipala, dacoits entered the house of Pantiram Shyamrao Shende, assaulted him and his wife. The desperadoes snatched away gold and silver ornaments worth Rs 18,000. In the same village, the outlaws assaulted Shyam Puri Gopal Puri at his residence and relieved him of Rs 500 cash.

The series of incidents created sensation in the nearby villages. On receiving information, the cops rushed immediately to Dhanoli first. Superintendent of Police Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma, Additional Superintendent of Police Prakash Jadhav, Sub-Divisional Police Officer Sudhakar Palandurkar, Kuhi PI Prakash Hake also rushed to the spot. The injured members of the family and the gang-rape victim were shifted to government hospital at Kuhi. Dr Sharma ordered constitution of various teams and sent to other villages. All the injured were admitted to Kuhi hospital.

Dr Sharma told ‘The Hitavada’ that Rural Police had constituted a total of 11 teams to nab the criminals. All the police officers and personnel in the Rural Police jurisdiction were out on roads all night, and they would be on night patrol on Saturday also, he said. “We have rounded up three suspects and are quizzing them. We are trying hard for detection. In fact, we have got some clue and are developing it,” he said. According to him, the gang-rape victim’s medical examination was conducted and her condition was stable. “She is a very brave girl,” he added.

Kuhi Police registered offence under Sections 297, 376 (g), 342, 504, 506 of Indian Penal Code against five-six dacoits and launched manhunt for the accused.
Special IG (Nagpur Range) Rajendra Singh and SP Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma camped at Kuhi and supervised the investigations. Senior police officers talked to gang-rape victim and injured persons. Singh asked the cops to dig out records of last 10 years for persons who committed dacoity or robbery in farm-houses.
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