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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,...

Sadar police books SICOM's ex-Regional Manager in fraud case

An ex-Regional Manager with State Industrial and Investment Corporation of Maharashtra (SICOM) was booked by Sadar police for accepting bribe of Rs. 15.50 lakh for sanctioning loan to a city builder. The builder had applied for loan of Rs. 10 crore in year 2014. The loan case was rejected and hence the builder asked for return of the money but the ex-RM washed his hands of entire episode prompting latter to approach police.

According to police, Director of Trimurti Infra Pvt Ltd Sachin Bhimrao Pathre (29), a resident of Mata Nagar, Godhni, had filed a loan case with SICOM on September 1, 2014. He met then Regional Manager, Milind Vasudeorao Ingle (56), wherein latter allegedly demanded Rs 5.50 lakh as bribe to sanction the case. Pathre paid Rs 5.5 lakh in two installments and also videographed the moment when he had handed over Rs 2.5 lakh in spy camera. 
In December 2015, Pathre learnt that about rejection by SICOM office. Pathre then met Ingle and asked to return the money. However, Ingle did not respond to requests. Fed up with regular excuses, Pathre approached Sadar police and lodged a complaint. As Ingle learnt about police complaint, he resigned from the job. 
After investigating the case, the Sadar police have booked the accused Ingle under Section 420 of Indian Penal Code. Preliminary investigations revealed that from Rs. 15.5 lakh, Rs 10 lakh was deposited with SICOM as 1% charges. 

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