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,...
DCP Mummaka Sudarshan THE growing menace of drug addiction is leaving a trail of devastation on many lives in the city. As the youth find themselves in the clutches of narcotics, their promising futures are being overshadowed by a dark and insecure path. In response to this alarming situation, the Nagpur police have launched an aggressive campaign known as “ Operation Narcos ,” taking aim at drug addicts and smugglers in a bid to restore hope and safety. In this background, on the eve of the International Day Against Drug Abuse , I caught up with Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Detection , Mummaka Sudarshan, who threw light on the severity of the drug consumption scenario in Nagpur and the comprehensive offensive launched by the Nagpur Police. “The consumption of drugs has reached alarming levels in Nagpur,” remarked DCP Sudarshan, citing the concerns voiced by various segments of society. He further revealed that the most prevalent contraband substances among the city’s youth ar...