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,...
Sitabuldi Police have booked a man on extortion charges. The accused -- Munna Yadav -- posed him a journalist and demanded money from Assistant Conservator of Forest (ACF) Sandip Namdeo Kshirsagar. Police Sub-Inspector (PSI) S. B. Danade informed that the ACF Kshirsagar had received a call on mobile phone on Friday. During conversation, the accused introduced himself as a journalist and asked money for the newspaper. When Khirsagar refused to do so, the accused abused him and threatened him. Kshirsagar lodged a complaint at Sitabuldi Police Station and submitted call recordings to the police. The cops have booked the accused under Sections 385, 294, 504 and 506 of Indian Penal Code.