During arguments on sentencing in the MCOCA court the once feared underworld don said there was no reason for him to kill Kamlakar Jamsandekar for a "paltry" amount of Rs30 lakh.
A special court on Tuesday reserved till August 31 its ruling on sentencing gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, convicted for the murder of a Shiv Sena corporator four years ago.
During arguments on sentencing in the Maharashtra Control of Organized Crime Act (MCOCA) court, the once feared underworld don told special judge Pritiviraj Chavan there was no reason for him to kill Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar for a "paltry" amount of Rs30 lakh.
"After 2007 BMC elections, when Shiv Sena was not in majority it was our Akhil Bhartiya Sena who gave them support of four Corporators (to attain majority). At that time each of our corporator commanded very high monetary value (for providing support) and there was no reason for me to kill Jamsandekar for Rs30 lakh," Gawli argued.
On August 24, the former MLA and 11 others were found guilty of murdering Jamsandekar in 2008. According to the chargesheet, a sum of Rs30 lakh was paid to the Gawli gang for eliminating the Sena Corporator over a land deal.
When the court asked Gawli about the number of criminal cases registered against him, he said most of them were filed when he was in jail.
"Most of the cases were registered against me when I was in prison, and when I was acquitted in 2000 there were no cases pending against me. When I filed my nominations for the Lok Sabha polls in 2004 there were two cases against me and they (police) had even registered a case against my wife."
Outside the court, Gawli told media persons he is innocent and will appeal against his conviction. Asked about the court finding him guilty in the murder case, he said "Ask the conscience of the two policemen who implicated me - they must be saying that I am innocent".
In the court, Gawli's lawyer Sudeep Passbola argued that his client should not be given capital punishment as demanded by the prosecution. "Give a dog a bad name and shoot it - that should not be the principle," said Passbola.
"The gang slowly expanded its horizons, where they misguided youth and got them to do illegal work," Thakare had said, adding the gang members continued to operate from jail.
Jamsandekar was shot dead in March 2008 at his residence in suburban Ghatkopar. Gawli was arrested on May 21, 2008 and is in custody since then.
On October 7, 2010, the court framed charges against Gawli and other accused under MCOCA, sections 302 (Murder), 34 (common intention) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of IPC. All accused had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
According to police, the contract for killing Jamsandekar was allegedly given by accused Sahebrao Bhintade and Bala Surve, who were reportedly his (Jamsandekar's) rivals in construction business and local politics.
Crime Branch had said the other reason why Jamsandekar was killed was that Bintade and Surve were eying a plot at Saki Naka in suburban Mumbai and the Corporator reportedly "refused to cooperate".
According to prosecution, Jamsandekar was murdered at the behest of Gawli, who had, along with the co-accused, conspired to eliminate him.
The trial in the case commenced in October 2010.
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