Gawli’s terror tactics keep NCP activists at bay

MUMBAI: A few days ago, well past midnight, several men in a convoy of cars pulled up outside the house of a Nationalist Congress Party activist in central Mumbai.
They entered the house and one of the men held a gun to the activist’s head and warned him and his wife not to work against Arun Gawli, who has decided to contest the Lok Sabha election from the Mumbai south-central constituency.The husband and wife are active members of the NCP. They are now completely traumatised.
“We don’t dare complain to the police even though the home portfolio is controlled by R.R. Patil who is the state president of the NCP. Even if the NCP fields a candidate for the election,we will not be working for him,’’ the terrified husband told this newspaper on Tuesday on condition of anonymity.
The Gawli gang, which had been lying low for the past four years, is raising its head once again. Joint commissioner of police (law and order) Ahmed Javed said, “We have received reports about the renewed activities of this gang. But so far, we have not received any complaints.’’
However, sources in the NCP and the Shiv Sena confirmed that Gawli’s men were now active in the constituency which is peppered with dilapidated chawls of mill workers and poor labourers.
“The boys have made a prestige issue of getting their ‘daddy’ (as the don is referred to by his gang members) elected and they are doing everything possible to achieve their aim,’’ Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai south-central Mohan Rawle said.
Incidentally, Mr Rawle was once close to Gawli and had even staged a dharna outside Agripada police station a few years ago when the don was arrested.
Now, the don is trying to replace Mr Rawle as the local MP. Sources said the gang was using terror tactics selectively. The main strategy is to win over youths by liberally funding the ‘mandals’ which dot the landscape all over the constituency.
Mandals are local associations of youths who run gymnasiums, reading rooms and celebrate Ganesh Chaturti and Shiv Jayanti. Gawli said he was “helping’’ these organisations since elected representatives had neglected them all these years.
Gawli is also undertaking works to repair toilet blocks, community halls and even roads. “The works are carried out with a few days of receiving a complaint. The Gawli gang has put the BMC to shame by quickly responding to civic complaints,’’ an NCP leader admitted.
A spokesperson for the Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS), a political outfit floated by Gawli, confirmed the “social welfare activities’’ but declined to provide the list of these works. He was annoyed with an interview of the don carried by this newspaper last week. Meanwhile, the police are worried about the re-emergence of the Gawli gang.
“The gangs led by Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan will now respond by renewing their activities. Don’t be surprised if ‘bhaigiri’ returns with a vengeance in Mumbai. Already builders, who are now witnessing a boom in business, are beginning to feel the heat from the ‘bhais,’’’ a retired IPS officer said.
Interestingly, former IPS officer T.K. Choudhary is being fielded by the Samajwadi Party in the Mumbai south-central constituency where he will be required to take on Gawli, among others. “Once I enter the fray, the Gawli gang will have to stop their arm-twisting tactics,’’ he warned.