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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,...

Conman poses as Police Inspector, extort money from Batukbhai Jewelers, held

Sitabuldi police booked a man for posing as a police inspector from Mumbai Crime Branch and threatening and extorting money from proprietor of Batukbahi jeweler Nagpur. 

The accused has been identified as Nishant Parmar (32), a resident of Shanti Nagar, Dahisar, Mumbai. According to information, complainant in the case -- proprietor of Batukbhai jewelers Bharat Jamchand Seth (53), a resident of Flat No. 403, Heritage Apartment, Civil Lines -- received a phone call on March 22. The caller (Parmar) introduced himself as Police Inspector Rathod attached to Mumbai Crime Branch.

During conversation, PI Rathod accused Bharat of purchasing stolen valuables from a woman thief. “A woman has been arrested by Mumbai Crime Branch and she had given a statement that she had sold the stolen valuables in Batukbhai Jewelers, Nagpur,” PI Rathod told Bharat on phone. 

The Inspector later asked the jeweler to hand over Rs 2.5 lakh as the recovery value of the said stolen jewelry or else he would implicate him. Fearing of police action, Bharat assured Parmar of depositing the cash in Mumbai. Bharat approached his one Mumbai based relative and asked them to hand over Rs 2.5 lakh to PI Rathod at Bandra Court. After getting the cash, the PI Rathod again phone Bharat asked him to deposit 50 gm of gold get back the cash. On the basis of directions of Bharat, a man met PI Rathod at Bandra Court and given him gold ornaments of 50 gm. PI Rathod assured him to return the money and disappear in the public. 

Sitabuldi police have registered the case under Sections 170, 419, 420 of Indian Penal Code. Investigation officer of the case PSI M P Puri informed that the accused has been arrested by the Tehsil police on production warrant from Beed police. He was arrested previously by the Mumbai police in cases of chain-snatching, mobile theft and cheating. He is a habitual offender who has threatened jewelers in the past too and extorted money from them. In these cases too, he would pose as a PI from Pune or Mumbai Crime Branch.

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