Gangster-turned-legislator Arun Gawli was granted bail by a court here on Sunday, in a case of alleged criminal breach of trust.
Gangster-turned-MLA Arun Gawli was released on bail on Sunday after paying a personal bond of Rs1 lakh, dashing hopes of the Mumbai police which wanted to hold him in police custody for further interrogation.
The economic offences wing (EOW) officers had arrested Gawli on Saturday for allegedly misappropriating funds worth Rs85 lakh that were allocated as salary for labourers working for Neptune Constructions in Central Mumbai. SY Shisode, additional chief metropolitan magistrate with the Holiday Court at Esplanade, directed Gawli to report to the police after December 20 — the day winter session ends for the State Legislative Assembly at Nagpur.
“This is a conspiracy in view of the forthcoming BMC elections,” said Gawli. “Home Minister RR Patil is behind it. The entire IPS lobby is being pressured to implicate me.”
While rejecting the prosecutor’s plea for Gawli’s police custody, Shisode said that the accused had taken money from the labourers “with their consent”. Earlier, the prosecutor had said that the Akhil Bhartiya Kamgar Sena (ABKS), the union started by Gawli’s political party, had received Rs4 crore from Neptune, which was to be disbursed among union members who had worked at the firm. The prosecutor alleged that Gawli siphoned off funds and used them for personal gain. Gawli’s counsel Ishwariprasad Bagaria said, “Workers had been paid salaries, and they had consented to pay the union Rs1.16 crore towards expenditure incurred. He argued that the seven complainants, who had claimed non-payment of dues, were also paid the dues. Hence, there was no criminal breach of test. The police can investigate the accounts without arresting my client.”
Gawli was arrested after he allegedly admitted to having taken the funds for the Shivshambhu Trust, floated by him, for activities of his political party, Akhil Bhartiya Sena, of which he is the president. Gawli has been booked under sections 403 (dishonest misappropriation of property), 406 (punishment for criminal breach of trust), 34 (acts done by several persons) and 120b (punishment of criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
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