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

  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,...

Police clueless about Rs 39 lakh dacoity

  • Police analysing photographs of the dacoits, said DCP Darade 

By Dheeraj Fartode
Lakadganj police have failed to make any headway in the Saturday’s Rs 39 lakh dacoity at Umesh Courier Service even as senior police officers claim investigations are on track.
A senior police officer said that police are exploring records of dacoits and also anlaysing movement of dreaded goons of city. “We have recovered CCTV footage and analysing photographs of the dacoits,” said Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP Zone-III) Sanjay Darade. The dacoity was act of professionalism and hence probe is centered on tracking criminals having involvement in such crimes in past.
Sources further informed that modus operandi of the dacoits was like habitual dacoits. The police have sent photographs of the dacoits to all police stations and also contacted other police unit to get the lead about identity of accused persons.

A senior police officer claimed that special teams of Crime Branch are also spread their dragnet to nab the culprits. “Involvement of inter-state gang is also being explored and city police are in contact with neighboring states,” an officer said. 
Six masked dacoits had looted Rs. 39 lakh cash from Anaj Bazar based office of courier firm. The crime spot was barely 50 feet from Police outpost of Lakadganj police station. The accused barged into office and tied workers with handcuffs and fled with the booty which they packed in four bags. Kalpesh Mukeshbhai Patel (32), a resident of plot on A/210, Gujarat, and temporarily residing at Quetta Colony along with four workers were counting money at the office when the dacoits struck.

Is the money was part of hawala racket? 

Asked about the source of cash, DCP Sanjay Darade said that the police are still interrogating Santosh Patel about details. Sources said the money could have been part of hawala racket as the Nagpur is one of the biggest centre for hawala transaction. Sources informed that the office was operating since past two years. The dacoits must have done rekki of the spot and then only planned the loot. Grapevine is that dacoits had got tip-off that the courier firm was planning to transfer Rs 1 crore cash and hence they timed their act accordingly. But police said they are still going by FIR.

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