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,...
Every 14 hours, a vehicle in Nagpur is stolen. Nearly 53 vehicles were stolen every month from the city, according to data of the Nagpur police. The citizens are feeling helpless as their vehicles purchased from hard-earned money are being stolen by the thieves in daylight.
According to data, a total of 530 vehicle thefts took place from January to October this year. Of which, the police detected 207 thefts with a detection rate of 39 per cent. In October, the city reported 61 vehicle theft cases. However, just two cases were detected by the police with a three per cent detection rate. In October last year, a total of 78 vehicles were stolen from the city and the police had solved 13 cases with a detection rate of 17 per cent. In 2021, about 793 vehicles were stolen from Nagpur. Of which, 251 cases (32 per cent) were detected by the police. In 2020, the city recorded 687 vehicle thefts. Of which, the police solved just 198 cases. A vehicle theft detection squad has been working in the Crime Branch for the past several years. However, vehicle thefts are increasing every year.
Sources informed that lack of parking space in buildings and colonies which lead to vehicles being parked on the roads. Such vehicles are on the top priority of the thieves. Rising demand of second hand vehicles and motor vehicle parts in the market has also become a ‘golden opportunity’ for thieves to invest their routine efforts in the thefts.
A police official said that the vehicles are being stolen from main markets of the city that includes Sitabuldi, Gandhibagh, Itwari, Mahal areas. After parking the vehicle, the vehicle owner does not return for around an hour. The thieves grabbed the opportunity and stole the vehicles by breaking the handle lock or using fake keys, the official said.
The official further stated that some of the stolen vehicles are being disposed off in neighbouring Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh state. The vehicle-lifters are selling the vehicle at a few thousand rupees without documents, he said. Many gangs of vehicle-lifters have been busted by the city police in recent months, he added.
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