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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,...

Laxmi Bar murder : Ajni police fails to make headway after nine days

  • DB squad of Ajni Police Station under fire for shoddy investigation style 

By Dheeraj Fartode
Investigation skills of Ajni police are under scanner as they have failed to trace the accused involved in murder of Vinaychandra Ganvir alias Pappu. Nine days have passed after Ganvir was stabbed to death outside notorious Laxmi Bar at Medical Square on March 11. But till date the police have failed to make any headway in the investigations. 
The cops claimed to have interrogated more than forty to sixty history-sheeters known to have base in the area but still concrete lead eludes them. Sources informed that the four accused in the murder case were captured in the CCTV footage and pictures of two of them were clear but still Detection Branch (DB) squad could not pinpoint the accused persons. The pictures have been circulated throughout the city police jurisdiction but no one could identity the two youth seen stabbing Ganvir.
Sources further informed that DB squad of Ajni police station were casual in their approach during the crucial initial phase of investigation. The cops as usual assumed old rivalry angle and were confident about detection of the case. Captured CCTV footage had added to morale of DB squad. Now, this confidence of DB members have evaporated and open and shut case is now giving headache to senior officers.
It can be also mentioned that Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP Zone IV) Ishu Sindhu was on leave when the murder took place. He resumed office on March 13 but till that time, important links faded due to shoddy investigations. 
A senior police officer informed that Ajni police station lacks depth to investigate crimes which are out of box. The DB Squad is either not willing to go extra mile to investigate the cases or simply not at all bothered due to lack of supervision over them. In past one year, the police station had not done anything extra to attract limelight. A murder of elderly woman was murdered in Narendra Nagar by robbers in day light on July 2014. The case is still remains a mystery as police failed to trace the accused due to negligence from senior officials, who seems to have simple closed the case.
Police Inspector Sandipan Pawar said, we are investigating the Ganvir murder case from all possible angles.” “We have interrogated more than 100 persons including history sheeter goons and friends of Ganvir,” PI Pawar further disclosed. 

Statistic also prove inefficiency of Ajni Police

Statistic from Crime Branch also proved Ajni Police’s inefficiency in the detection. In year 2015 and 2014, six and 12 chain snatching were reported in the Ajni area. However the cops have detected merely three cases in 2015 and seven in 2014. Only seven out of reported 10 robbery cases in year 2014 were detected by the police. 
In house-breaking cases too, the Ajni police continue with poor performance. In year 2014, 79 HBTs were reported and cops have only detected 15. Similarly, the cops have detected only 19 HBTs out of reported 60 HBTs in 2015. In motor vehicle thefts, the cops have only detected 11 cases out 66 in year 2014 and 11 cases out of reported 48 in year 2015.

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