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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,...

Terror alert : State Police on toes

By Dheeraj Fartode 
Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis held an impromptu meeting with top officials of Maharashtra Police and intelligence departments against backdrop of sneaking of terrorists through Gujarat. With Mahashivratri slated for Monday, which is celebrated throughout the State in a big way, this high-level meeting assumes significance. The meeting discussed the inputs received from Centre and assessed the current situation in Maharashtra and threat perceptions.
Post meeting, State Police ordered its all units to be prepared for any emergency action. Especially in Mumbai and Nagpur there is heightened security and systematic checks are being conducted to send home the right message.

Sources informed that Chief Minister scanned all intelligence inputs during the meeting and discuss the position of State Police at Mumbai, Pune and Nagpur cities. All necessary measures should be taken, there is nothing to worry,” said a top-level police officer.

After the meeting, a message was sent to all important units especially to Nagpur to keep watch on suspicious activities. As per the guidelines issued on Sunday, visible bandobast would be deployed at tourist places, religious places, railway stations, bus stand and other places of high footfalls such as malls, cinema halls etc.

The unit commanders have been asked to deploy armed pickets at all vital installations. Quick Response Team (QRT), Riot Control Police (RCP) should be kept on full alert. The specialized teams would deployed with adequate strength and should be prepared to deal with any eventuality, said the message from Mumbai.

Nagpur Police Commissionerate have been asked to deploy strict police bandobast for World Cup cricket matches, which will be held later this month at Jamtha stadium. Guessing sabotage at vital installation, special teams will be deployed for anti sabotage checks.
Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS), Special Branch and Local Crime Branch have been ordered to scan movements.

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