After completing all formalities required by the prisons department, Arun Gawli was released from jail at around 12:30 pm on Wednesday, an official confirmed
Arun Gawli, once a notorious figure in Mumbai's underworld, rose to prominence from Dagdi Chawl in Byculla. File Pic
Underworld don turned politician Arun Gawli was released from Nagpur Central Jail in Maharashtra on Wednesday, following the Supreme Court's order to grant him bail in a 2007 murder case. Gawli had spent more than 17 years in prison, reported the PTI.
The 76-year-old, who was serving a life sentence for the murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar, was granted bail by a bench of Justices M M Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh, who observed that he had already served a lengthy period in custody and that his appeal was still pending before the court.
“After completing all formalities required by the prisons department, Arun Gawli was released from jail at around 12:30 p.m.,” an official confirmed. He was received by family members, legal representatives, and supporters outside the jail, according to the PTI.
Gawli had been convicted under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA).
The apex court has allowed bail under the terms and conditions laid down by the trial court.
He had challenged the Bombay High Court's verdict dated 9 December 2019, which upheld the life sentence handed down by a sessions court in August 2012. That court also imposed a fine of Rs 17 lakh on him, as per the PTI.
Arun Gawli, once a notorious figure in Mumbai's underworld, rose to prominence from Dagdi Chawl in Byculla. He later founded the Akhil Bharatiya Sena and served as an MLA from 2004 to 2009, representing the Chinchpokli constituency in Mumbai.
In an another case, a Mumbai court had earlier in May had acquitted Arun Gawli, his younger brother Vijay Ahir and five of his gang members in a 2008 extortion case.
The court had stated that the prosecution failed to prove the charges against them.
There were nine accused in the extortion case, of which one died during the course of the trial and another turned approver.
The rest, including Gawli and his brother, were acquitted by Special Judge B D Shelke, who presides over the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) special court in Mumbai, as per the PTI.
A builder undertaking an SRA (Slum Rehabilitation Authority) redevelopment project in Dadar in 2005 had filed an extortion complaint against the Gawli gang in 2008.
He had alleged that Arun Gawli, through his gang members, demanded Rs 50 lakh to allow him to continue the redevelopment project, the prosecution said, the news agency had earlier reported.
(with PTI inputs)
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