Arun Gawli

Summary

Arun Gulab Gawli [1][2](born 17 July 1955)[3] also known as Arun Gulab Ahir, is an Indian politician, underworld don[4][5] and retired gangster.[6][7] Gawli and his brother Kishor (Pappa) entered the Mumbai underworld in the 1970s, when they joined the "Byculla Company", a criminal gang led by Rama Naik and Babu Reshim, operating in the central Mumbai areas of Byculla, Parel and Saat Rasta. In 1988, after Rama Naik was killed in a police encounter, Gawli took over the gang and began operating it from his residence, Dagdi Chawl. Under his control, the gang controlled most criminal activities in the central Mumbai areas. Throughout the late eighties and nineties, Gawli's gang was involved in a power struggle with Dawood Ibrahim's D-Company gang. Gawli is also the founder of the Akhil Bharatiya Sena political party based in Maharashtra.[8]

Arun Gawli
अरुण गवळी
MLA from Maharashtra
In office
16 October 2004 – 13 October 2009
Criminal chargeMurder
PenaltyLife imprisonment
Preceded byMadhu Chavan
Succeeded byconstituency dissolved
ConstituencyChinchpokli
Personal details
Born
Arun Gulab Gawli

(1955-07-17) July 17, 1955 (age 68)
Ahmednagar, Bombay State, India (now Maharashtra, India)
CitizenshipIndia Indian
Political partyAkhil Bharatiya Sena
SpouseAsha Gawli
RelationsSachin Ahir (nephew)
Children5

Early and personal life edit

Arun Gawli was born in Pohegaon, Ahmednagar district, Maharashtra, India. He married Zubeida Mujawar,[9] who later became Asha Gawli after marriage and converted to Hinduism. She was a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) for Maharashtra and they both have five children,[10] two sons and three daughters including Mahesh and Geeta, Yogita,Yatika[11][12] Geeta is a first term ABS corporator from the Chinchpokli assembly constituency.[13] Gawli's nephew Sachin Ahir is an MLA and is the former Maharashtra Minister of State for Housing.[14] Gawli's uncle Hukumchand Yadav was a legislator from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh.[13]

Criminal activities edit

Gawli worked in textile mills, located in the central areas of Parel, Chinchpokli, Byculla and Cotton Green. From the 1970s to the late 1980s, Mumbai's textile mill industry witnessed mass strikes and eventual lock-outs. As a result, many young adults (including Gawli) had no employment and eventually found a short-cut to quick money through matka gambling and hafta-vasuli. Gawli then joined the "Byculla Company" gang led by gangsters Rama Naik and Babu Reshim and supervised their illegal liquor dens. Arun Gawali got his underworld name as DADDY. This "Byculla Company" became popular in Mumbai Underworld and it was well known as BRA Gang as the first initials of three gang leaders Rama Naik, Babu Reshim and Arun Gawali.

After the death of gang leader Rama Naik by his bodyguard Buwa and Babu Reshim, Gawali took the whole responsibility of BRA Gang and lead the gang in Central Bombay. Arun Gawali became the first Marathi Gang Leader of Mumbai Underworld. Famous Gangster of Pune Ajit Bhai Lawand joined Gawali gang in the late 80's and started operations in Pune as well. Ajit Lawand was the right hand of Arun Gawli and had ruled Pune,Satara and Mumbai during 1990's. Gawli gang came to fame in Pune because of Lawand. In the year 1993, Lawand was shot dead by rivals in Nigadi, Pune. Lawand is still remembered as one of the top gangsters of Pune. He is remembered for his social work done in Mumbai, Pune and Satara district.

Mumbai police raided the premises of Dagdi Chawl several times and finally broke Gawli's underworld operations. Gawli was arrested several times for criminal activities and was detained for long periods during the trial. However, he could not be convicted in most of the cases as witnesses would not depose against him for fear of retaliation. He was finally convicted of the murder of Shiv Sena leader Kamlakar Jamsandekar by a court in August 2012. Gawli and eleven others were found guilty of Jamsandekar's murder and Gawali was sentenced to life imprisonment. Charge sheet of 138 pages were furnished by IPS Jayanthi Naidu - Joint Director Central Bureau of Investigation, 2002 Batch Officer. [15]

Politics edit

Gawli got political patronage in the 1980s, when the then Shiv Sena chief, Bal Thackeray, criticised the Mumbai police for taking stringent action against Hindu gangsters like Arun Gawli and Sai Bansod, referring to them as amchi mulgey (our boys). Thackeray was challenged by a rival gangster in an open letter carried on the front page of a city tabloid.[16] However, Gawli fell out with Shiv Sena in the mid 1990s, murdered Shiv Sena men and formed his own political party, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena.

In 2004, Gawli was elected as a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) from the Mumbai Chinchpokli constituency as an Akhil Bharatiya Sena candidate. Gawli's rise in prominence is believed to be due to his "native roots" as a local lad, which makes him distinct from most other non-Marathi-speaking politicians.

Gawli's political designs suffered a major blow when his nephew and party legislator, Sachin Ahir, came out openly against him and joined Sharad Pawar's Nationalist Congress Party. Ahir even contested against Gawli in the subsequent Lok Sabha elections on a Nationalist Congress Party ticket, resulting in defeat for them both, but a victory for the Shiv Sena's sitting MP Mohan Rawale. Gawli's daughter Geeta was a ex a corporator to the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation.

In popular culture edit

  • In the 2015 Marathi movie Dagadi Chawl, Makarand Deshpande's character called Daddy is mainly based on Arun Gawli's life. Ankush Chaudhari played the lead and as Arun Gawli's lieutenant.[17][18]
  • The Hindi film Daddy was released on 8 September 2017 and is based on Gawli's life, starring Arjun Rampal in and as Daddy.[19]
  • In the Netflix series Sacred Games, based on the best-selling novel by Vikram Chandra, the lead character and anti-hero Ganesh Gaitonde is loosely based on Arun Gawli.[20] The part of Isa is loosely based on Dawood Ibrahim.

References edit

  1. ^ Jayaram, N. (2017). Social Dynamics of the Urban: Studies from India. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. ISBN 9788132237419 – via Google Books.
  2. ^ Virani, Pinki (2017). Once was Bombay. Indian Institute of Advanced Study. ISBN 9789352140749 – via Google Books.
  3. ^ डिजाईन, Ankitaअंकिता दीपावली की; है|, डेवलपमेंट और आर्टिकल के सर्च इंजन की विशेषग्य है| ये इस साईट की एडमिन है| इनको वेबसाइट ऑप्टिमाइज़ और कभी कभी आर्टिकल लिखना पसंद (3 September 2017). "अरुण गवली का जीवन परिचय | Arun Gawli Biography in hindi". Deepawali. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
  4. ^ Kumar, Praveen. "Policing the Police 2 Edition". Indian Police service. p. 243 – via Google Books.
  5. ^ Inside India. Publish America. p. 337. ISBN 9781607499145 – via Google Books.
  6. ^ "Arun Gawli get life term in corporator murder case - Hindustan Times". Archived from the original on 2 September 2012. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  7. ^ "Arun Gawli gets life for corporator's murder". mid-day.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  8. ^ "'Arun Gawli's party front for crime'". The Times of India. 6 September 2012. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013.
  9. ^ Zaidi, S. Hussain (14 June 2017). "The rise and rise of Arun Gawli, the son of a mill worker and the terror of Byculla". Scroll.in. Retrieved 13 May 2021.
  10. ^ Khullar, Darshan (30 September 2014). "Part II: Hindu Husbands and Muslim Wives". Pakistan Our Difficult Neighbour and India's Islamic Dimensions. Vij Books India Pvt Ltd. pp. 106. ISBN 978-93-82652-82-3.
  11. ^ Zaidi, S. Hussain; Borges, Jane (1 January 2011). Mafia Queens of Mumbai. Westland. ISBN 9789380283777. Retrieved 2 December 2016 – via Google Books.
  12. ^ "Watch: Wedding of don Arun Gawli's daughter a subdued affair within the walls of Dagdi Chawl". Mumbai Mirror. 8 May 2020. Retrieved 9 July 2021.
  13. ^ a b "Gawli's Daughter Marries Developer". Express India. Archived from the original on 11 July 2013. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  14. ^ "Dagdi Chawl's Daddy Cool". Tehelka Archive. Archived from the original on 20 August 2016. Retrieved 2 December 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  15. ^ "Arun Gawli convicted in murder case". The Hindu. Chennai, India. 24 August 2012. Retrieved 24 August 2012.
  16. ^ "Cover Story". Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 18 February 2013.
  17. ^ "Makrand Deshpande as Arun Gawli - Times of India". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  18. ^ "WATCH: Makrand as Arun Gawli - Times of India". indiatimes.com. Retrieved 2 December 2016.
  19. ^ "Arjun Rampal as Daddy". 8 September 2017. Archived from the original on 14 February 2019. Retrieved 8 September 2017.
  20. ^ "अरुण गवली का जीवन परिचय-Arun Gawli Biography in Hindi. Ramayan". Retrieved 17 April 2022.