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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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DGP Sanjeev Dayal: loses opportunity to become DG of ITBP

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  • Tussle between Congress and Nationalist Congress Party over postings 

By Dheeraj Fartode
DGP Sanjeev Dayal
IN a rude shock to top IPS officers of Maharashtra cadre, the State Government has delayed clearance to present Director General of Police (DGP) Sanjeev Dayal to join as head of prestigious Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP). The inaction proved costly for Dayal and Union Home Ministry has appointed Subhash Goswami (1977 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre) as Chief of ITBP. 
Dayal was keen to take up this prestigious posting and his new posting was publicly announced by Union Home Minister Sushilkumar Shinde. Sources in Home ministry informed ‘The Hitavada’ that Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh has cleared appointment of Subhash Goswami, a 1977 batch IPS officer of Assam-Meghalaya cadre. Goswami is presently Director of National Police Academy (NPA) of Hyderabad. 

Dayal’s shifting from State’s top cop to ITBP would have hastened postings and promotions of other senior IPS officers who were anxiously awaiting his posting as ITBP chief. Most of the top positions including all DG level postings in Mumbai, Thane would have undergone change, but now there would be no shiftings, since Dayal would stay where he is. 

As per the seniority list of state IPS officers, Dayal is followed by DG Anti-corruption Pravin Dixit, an IPS officer of the 1977 batch, DG Housing, Arup Patnaik (1979 batch) and Mumbai police commissioner Satya Pal Singh (1980 batch). According to sources, Dixit is all set to be posted as Director of National Police Academy, Hyderabad. Many in police circle believe that political bosses were not very keen to appoint Dixit as top cop of state. 

Satyapal Singh’s promotion as DGP is due for past three months. Tussle between Congress and Nationalist Congress Party over postings and promotions of IPS officers is very well known in political circle and top leaders of both parties do not want to add fire in the tussle over appointment of new DGP and promotions. 

Sources informed that Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan was not keen to relive DGP Dayal, the officer with an unblemished track record. Chavan had refused to undertake transfer of SP ad DIG level IPS officers citing Transfer Act and Supreme Court judgements. The Home department had proposed transfer of 65 officers while Chavan had cleared only 11 transfers as per rule. In the process, no mass transfers were cleared and with Lok Sabha elections round the corner and Assembly polls slated next year, this is last opportunity for DF Government to undertake reshuffling of top cops 

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