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,...
CP Dr. B. K. Upadhyaya Furious over growing incidents of violent crimes, Commissioner of Police (CP) Dr. B K Upadhyaya on Tuesday pulled up senior rank officials for their lethargic approach in policing and directed them to carry out proactive policing. He observed that the force had become more of a reactionary force during the last two months. The Police Commissioner gave his piece of mind to the city police force on Tuesday evening. That he chose the medium of wireless broadcast to give lashing to station in-charge speaks volume about seriousness of the situation. It means the city police chief wanted public at large to know that he was not sitting idle even as goons were on killing spree, targeting each other. That he chose not to wait till monthly crime meeting also indicates the graveness of the situation wherein the Police Commissioner feels the force needs to change its mindset and get control of the situation. He categorically named Police Inspector of Ajni and K...