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,...
By Dheeraj Fartode
VIOLENCE and arson erupted in several localities in North Nagpur since Friday night after some miscreants pelted stones at a religious place in Panchasheel Nagar, Pachpaoli. Despite deployment of a huge police posse, protesters including men, women and children pelted stones and torched vehicles. Several cars and two wheelers were damaged by the mob. The unruly crowd ransacked some restaurants and eateries forcing shopkeepers to down their shutters.
After the protesters clashed with some of the cops, police resorted to lathi charge at Panchasheel Nagar, Lashkaribag and Indora Square to quell the rioters. According to eye-witnesses, most of the people residing in Samata Nagar, Panchasheel Nagar, Lashkaribagh, Indora and other nearby localities had gone to Deekshabhoomi to attend the Dhammachakra Pravartan Day programme on Sunday evening. Last night, some 10-12 miscreants who were in an inebriated condition, threw stone at a Buddha Vihar in Panchasheel Nagar. They smashed the windowpanes of the vihar. An elderly woman tried to prevent them but they misbehaved and allegedly thrashed her. When she shouted for help, the miscreants ran away.
The news about the incident spread like jungle fire in Pachpaoli and Jaripatka areas. Hundreds of people gathered on the streets. They burnt tyres on the road to register their protest and demanded immediate arrest of the miscreants who hurt their religious sentiments. Cops rushed to the affected localities and pacified the mob.
On Saturday again, violence and arson erupted in Panchasheel Nagar, Lashkaribagh, Kamal Chwok, Indora Chowk, and other nearby localities. The mob torched an ambulance at Indora Square. Similarly, the protesters also torched some vehicles in other localities. On Ambedkar Road, the crowd ransacked RajkutRestaurant and Indore Namkeen Centre, besides damaging several vehicles parked on the roadside.
Besides staff from Pachpaoli, Jaripatka and Sadar Police Stations, additional force from Police headquarters, quick response teams, platoons of State Reserve Police Force and anti-riot vehicles were deployed. Cops resorted to cane charge after the mob resorted to stone-pelting on policemen injuring some of them.
Commissioner of Police K K Pathak, Joint Commissioner of Police Anupkumar Singh, Deputy Commissioners of Police from all zones, Crime Branch and Specail Branch officers were constantly monitoring the situation. Five policemen bleeding profusely were rushed to hospital.
A senior officer told ‘The Hitavada’ that police have rounded up some miscreants likely to be involved in the incident that hurt the religious sentiments of the community. “We had no option but to use force to handle the violent mob,” he added. The officer informed that heavy bandobast has been deployed in the riot-hit areas though the situation was under control.
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