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,...
NAGPUR (Rural) Police finally arrested four youths involved in Kuhi gang-rape and dacoity case.
Those arrested have been identified as Dinesh Rajlakhan Chavan (22), Gulabchand alias Ninniki Bagchand Bhosle (23), both residents of village Jhiri, district Harda (MP), Chacchu Joharshigh Bhosle (22), and Atish alias Tenten Artisingh Bhosle (26), both residents of village Champa, taluka Kuhi.
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| Team of Nagpur (Rural) Police with accused. |
Interrogation revealed that the accused Dinesh, Gulabchand, and Ravi (who is still at large) had arrived at Pardhi hamlet at Champa to participate in ‘Pardhi Panchayat’. Two others namely Chacchu and Atish, meanwhile, kept a watch on some of the farm-houses near Nawargaon. On Friday evening, after consuming liquor, all the accused boarded a jeep and stopped at a farm-house near Nawargaon. From that farm-house, they started the series of assault of workers and looting. At one of the farm-houses, after beating workers, they gang-raped a girl.
In the wee hours of Saturday, they all reached back to hamlet near Champa. There, Atish narrated the incident to his wife and his elder brother. An old woman administered oath to members of community not to narrate the incident to anyone.
Superintendent of Police Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma told reporters on Thursday that cops had launched search for fifth accused Ravi. “It was a well-planned incident and the accused had conducted recce at the farm houses three days before committing the crime,” he added. Dr Sharma said, the case was a bit complicated and police worked on seven different theories.
Kuhi Police got information about the crime on Friday at around 10.30 pm. Acting fast, the cops launched manhunt for the accused, and some history-sheeters were nabbed the same night. Cops rounded up Chhattisgarhi migrant workers, and also some residents of Nagpur partying at a farm-house. But, it did not lead cops anywhere. The police also picked up some members of a Pardhi hamlet near village Champa. During interrogation, one of the Pardhi youths told cops about two of them joining three youngsters from Madhya Pradesh ‘that’ evening in moving out after getting drunk heavily. The youth informed cops that they returned at 4 am on Saturday and fled from the hamlet the same morning.
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| SP Dr Manoj Kumar Sharma |
Cops started following the lead. In all, 23 personnel of Umred and Kuhi police stations including Crime Branch personnel were part of the operation. Cops followed up every clue they got and reached a Pardhi hamlet near village Jhiri in Tembhurna tehsil of Harda district (MP). As soon as the accused, who were in hiding at the hamlet, got information about cops searching for them, they fled to a nearby jungle. But, cops chased them and finally arrested them from Tukaithad railway station.
The accused would be produced before the court on Friday.
Additional SP Prakash Jadhav, PI (Crime Branch) Rajan Pali were present at the press conference.
How sensitive are NGOs?
Non-Government Organisations (NGOs) are supposed to lend a helping hand to those in distress. However, sometimes, over-enthusiastic elements actually end up increasing distress level of victims of crimes. In case of gang-rape victim, police sources said, the courageous girl helped the cops by way of giving valuable information. However, she felt depressed and lost her cool on Wednesday as many NGOs met her and asked her one question repeatedly, “How many persons raped you?”. Obviously, it hurt her deeply. This also exposed insensitivity on part of NGOs in dealing with tender emotions of victims in such crimes.
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