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,...
Dabo club Nagpur Efforts to reopen the controversial Dabo Club, which was shut down for 45 days following the murder of two young men, have triggered strong anger and fear among the families of the victims. The incident took place in the early hours of December 26 last year during a Christmas party at Dabo Club. Pranav Ranavare (27) was allegedly killed after a minor dispute. His friend, Gaurav Karda (34), was badly injured in the same incident and later died during treatment. The Sonegaon police arrested six accused - Soumya Deshmukh, Mehul alias Monu Rahate, Rajiv Chawla, Abhay Jhamtani, Gappu Sharma and Tushar Nankani. All the accused are currently lodged in jail. The club is owned by Directors Devyani Vijay Wadettiwar, Karan Vikram Thakkar and Mohd Hamza Rayeen. It may be mentioned here that Dabo Club has a long history of complaints related to harassment and assaults. Police sources said repeated warnings were ignored by the management. During the investigation, it was found...