Another case slapped on Gawli

Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, put in jail so that the police could seek evidence against him in one case, has another case slapped on him.

Gawli was arrested after some of his supporters threw stones at a city journalist on Monday. But the police have gathered enough evidence against him to book him again. This time Gawli, who has recently floated the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, has been accused of evicting a resident of Dagdi Chawl in south-central Bombay.

Chandraprabha Anant Gajare, in her complaint at the Agripada police station, alleged that Gawli made her vacate room number 12 in Dagdi chawl in 1990 after she refused to let the gangster marry her daughter, Sangeeta, then 18.

Gajare said she had become Gawli's cook after she separated from her husband and that initially she had no trouble with the hood. But after his offer to marry her daughter was spurned, Gawli offered Rs 50,000 for her room, which she claims was worth Rs 300,000 at that time. When she refused, he turned vengeful, threatening to kill her if she set foot in the chawl again, she alleged.

Deputy Commissioner of Police Param Vir Singh denied that the sudden emergence of the complainant was part of an effort to keep Gawli in custody, at the behest of the Shiv Sena, the dominant -- and militant -- partner in Maharashtra's ruling coalition.