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,...
- Accused hired six hardcore criminals of an inter-state gang from Uttar Pradesh
By Dheeraj Fartode
IN A significant breakthrough, Crime Branch sleuths arrested two members of a gang of hardcore criminals who had looted cash and jewellery collectively worth Rs 15 lakh from the bungalow of beetulnut merchant Lalit Kothari in upscale Civil Lines area on February 25.
The accused have been identified as Mushtaq Ahmed alias Bhaijaan Abdul Khalid (40), a resident Mominpura, Nagpur, and Nanbabu alias Jitendra alias Baccha Bachhulal Mourya (31), a resident Chitrakoot, Chhattisgarh. However, six other members of the gang are still at large.
Mushtaq was one of the accused persons in the sensational Lakhotia brothers douple murder case of May 2008.
It is learnt that Mushtaq got information that Lalit Kothari had kept cash and jewellery worth crores of rupees in his Civil Lines bungalow. He passed on the information to his close friend Nanbabu. He, in consultation with Nanbabu, hatched a plan to loot cash and jewellery from Kothari bungalow. Nanbabu then hired six hardcore criminals of an inter-state gang from Uttar Pradesh.
On February 24, the six dacoits arrived in the city and Mushtaq provided two motorcycles -- a Hero Honda Splendor and a Yamaha -- to them. According to the plan, the six gang members struck at Kothari’s house next day in the late evening. Kothari’s wife and daughter were at home. One of them first rang the door bell and moved away. After Kothari’s wife opened the door, nobody was at the steps. When she stepped out to find out as to who rang the bell, the dacoits gagged her. They then pushed her inside the house. After latching the door from inside, the dacoits took out guns and sharp-edged weapons. They threatened to kill Kothari’s wife and daughter if they raised an alarm. Around 8.30 pm, Kothari along with his friend returned home from Maskasath. One of them caught Kothari’s daughter and told his wife to open the door without making any noise. They also threatened her of dire consequences, if she shouted for help. The dacoits allowed Kothari and his friend to enter the house. They then caught Kothari and his friend by pointing the firearms at them. After collecting cash and jewellery from the house, the dacoits sped away on motorcycles.
Investigations revealed that the dacoits fled to Uttar Pradesh with the cash and jewellery. Mushtaq and Nanbabu allegedly got their share from the dacoits.
Mushtaq and Nanbabu were arrested by senior Inspectors Madhav Giri and Prakash Sapkal, APIs Tapan Kolhe, Mangesh Desai, Siddheshwar Jangam and Head Constable Anup Shahu under the supervision of Commissioner of Police K K Pathak, Joint Commissioner of Police Sanjay Saxena and Deputy Commissioner of Police (Crime) Sunil Kolhe.
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