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,...
While fighting against novel coronavirus, the state machinery facing new challenge of sudden spurt in thefts at liquor shops and beer bars which are locked from March 18 after government ordered lockdown. Within 48 hours, four such cases were reported in the city and district prompting police to intensify patrolling near liquor shops.
Inspector of State Excises Department Raosaheb Kore informed that four cases were reported within 48 hours in which the thieves decamped with liquor more than one lakh in each case. First case was reported at Suvidha Bar and Restaurant in Sadar area in the intervening night of Monday and Tuesday. The intruder decamped with bottles of whiskey and rum collectivelly worth Rs 1.5 lakh, he said and added that two persons have been apprehended for the crime.
Another incident was reported in MIDC police station area in which country liquor worth Rs 73,000 stolen from the shop. A police official said that the theft took place between March 18 and March 31. Unidentified thief entered the Country liquor shop at Gadge Nagar in MIDC area and walked away with 33 boxes of liquor. The theft came to fore when owner Shriselam Balgoniwar (47), a resident of Adbhut Apartment, Higna, noticed the broken latch of the door. Similarly, two more thefts reported at Beer Bar on Wednesday.
Inspector Kore informed that country made foreign liquor (CMFL) worth Rs one lakh was stolen from Anand Bar situated in Nandanvan area of Nagpur city. Another theft reported at Dhapewada village in Saoner tehsil in which the thieves decamped with CMFL worth Rs 40,000/- from Govind Bar, he said.
A police official said that the thefts are being committed by habitual burglers. “As the people are staying at the home due to lockdown, they are targetting the liquor shops and bars,” he said. There is huge demand for the liquor as the shops are closed and supply through illegal sources also stopped due to heavy bandobast on inter-district and inter-state borders, he claimed.
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