View source for Arun Gawli

{{short description|Indian gangster}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=May 2018}}

{{Infobox officeholder
| name                = Arun Gawli
| image               = 
| birth_date          = {{birth-date and age|17 July 1955}}
| 2namedata           = [[Life imprisonment]]
| 2blankname          = Penalty
| 1namedata           = [[Murder]]
| 1blankname          = Criminal charge
| relations           = [[Sachin Ahir]] (nephew)
| children            = 5
| spouse              = Asha Gawli
| birth_place         = [[Ahmednagar district|Ahmednagar]], [[Bombay State]], [[India]] {{small|(now [[Maharashtra]], [[India]])}}
| birth_name          = Arun Gulab   Gawli
| office              = [[Maharashtra Legislative Assembly|Member of Maharashtra Legislative Assembly]]
| termstart           = 16 October 0000
| termend             = 13 October 0000
| constituency        = [[Chinchpokli (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Chinchpokli]]
| succeeded           = ''Constituency dissolved''
| party               = [[Akhil Bharatiya Sena]]
| preceded            = Madhu Chavan
| citizenship         = {{Flagicon|India}} [[Indian people|Indian]]
}}

'''Arun Gulab Gawli''' <ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VYwwDwAAQBAJ&q=Arun+gawli++ahir&pg=PA116|title= Social Dynamics of the Urban: Studies from India|first1= N. |last1= Jayaram|date= 2017 |publisher= Indian Institute of Advanced Study|isbn= 9788132237419|via=Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=cK_dCQAAQBAJ&q=Arun+gawli++ahir&pg=PT20|title= Once was Bombay|first1= Pinki |last1= Virani |date= 2017 |publisher= Indian Institute of Advanced Study|isbn= 9789352140749|via=Google Books}}</ref>(born 17 July 1955),<ref>{{Cite web|last1=डिजाईन|first1=Ankitaअंकिता दीपावली की|last2=है{{!}}|first2=डेवलपमेंट और आर्टिकल के सर्च इंजन की विशेषग्य है{{!}} ये इस साईट की एडमिन है{{!}} इनको वेबसाइट ऑप्टिमाइज़ और कभी कभी आर्टिकल लिखना पसंद|date=2017-09-03|title=अरुण गवली का जीवन परिचय {{!}} Arun Gawli Biography in hindi|url=https://www.deepawali.co.in/arun-gawli-biography-hindi-%e0%a4%85%e0%a4%b0%e0%a5%81%e0%a4%a3-%e0%a4%97%e0%a4%b5%e0%a4%b2%e0%a5%80.html|access-date=2020-08-30|website=Deepawali|language=en-US}}</ref> also known as '''Arun Gulab Ahir''', is an Indian politician, underworld don<ref>{{cite web|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zsAqSYZx6gEC&q=Arun+gawli++mumbai+don&pg=PA243 |title= Policing the Police 2 Edition |first1= Praveen |last1= Kumar |page= 243 |publisher= Indian Police service |via= Google Books}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=5AMa5Q3JFOsC&q=Arun+gawli++mumbai+don&pg=PA337 |title= Inside India |page=337 |publisher= Publish America |isbn= 9781607499145 |via= Google Books}}</ref> and retired gangster.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Arun-Gawli-get-life-term-in-corporator-murder-case/Article1-922231.aspx |title= Arun Gawli get life term in corporator murder case - Hindustan Times |access-date=2013-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20120902210250/http://www.hindustantimes.com/India-news/Mumbai/Arun-Gawli-get-life-term-in-corporator-murder-case/Article1-922231.aspx |archive-date=2012-09-02 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mid-day.com/news/2012/aug/310812-Arun-Gawli-gets-life-for-corporator-murder.htm|title=Arun Gawli gets life for corporator's murder|work=mid-day.com|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref> Gawli and his brother Kishor (Pappa) entered the [[Organised crime in India#Mumbai underworld|Mumbai underworld]] in the 1970s, when they joined the "Byculla Company", a criminal gang led by Rama Naik and Babu Reshim, operating in the central [[Mumbai]] areas of [[Byculla]], [[Parel]] and Saat Rasta. In 1988, after Rama Naik was killed in a police encounter, Gawli took over the gang and began operating it from his residence, [[Dagdi Chawl]]. Under his control, the gang controlled most criminal activities in the central Mumbai areas. Throughout the late eighties and nineties, Gawli's gang was involved in a power struggle with [[Dawood Ibrahim]]'s [[D-Company]] gang. Gawli is also the founder of the [[Akhil Bharatiya Sena]] political party based in [[Maharashtra]].<ref>{{cite news| url=https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/mumbai/Arun-Gawlis-party-front-for-crime/articleshow/16271782.cms | archive-url=https://archive.today/20130711063158/http://articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-06/mumbai/33648743_1_arun-gawli-dagdi-chawl-akhil-bharatiya-sena | url-status=live | archive-date=2013-07-11 | work=[[The Times of India]] | title='Arun Gawli's party front for crime' | date=2012-09-06}}</ref>

==Early and personal life==
Arun Gawli was born in Pohegaon, [[Kopargaon]], [[Ahmednagar district]], Maharashtra, [[India]]. Gawli first worked at Simplex Mills in [[Chinchpokli]], then at Godrej & Boyce company in Vikhroli and later at Crompton Greaves in Kanjurmarg before working at gangster Parasnath Pandey's gambling den. He married Zubeida Mujawar,<ref>{{Cite web|last=Zaidi|first=S. Hussain|title=The rise and rise of Arun Gawli, the son of a mill worker and the terror of Byculla|url=https://scroll.in/reel/840580/the-rise-and-rise-of-arun-gawli-the-son-of-a-mill-worker-and-the-terror-of-byculla|access-date=2021-05-13|website=Scroll.in|date=14 June 2017 |language=en-US}}</ref> who became Asha Gawli after marriage and [[List of converts to Hinduism from Islam|converted to Hinduism]]. She was a [[Member of the Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLA) for Maharashtra and they have five children:<ref>{{Cite book|last=Khullar|first=Darshan|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=3QmqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA106|title=Pakistan Our Difficult Neighbour and India's Islamic Dimensions|date=2014-09-30|publisher=Vij Books India Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-93-82652-82-3|pages=[https://books.google.com/books?id=3QmqCQAAQBAJ&pg=PA106 106]|language=en|chapter=Part II: Hindu Husbands and Muslim Wives}}</ref> two sons and three daughters including Mahesh and Geeta, Yogita, Yatika<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vtd5tAEACAAJ |title=Mafia Queens of Mumbai|first1=S. Hussain|last1=Zaidi|first2=Jane|last2=Borges|date=1 January 2011|publisher=Westland|isbn=9789380283777|access-date=2 December 2016|via=Google Books }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|date=May 8, 2020|title=Watch: Wedding of don Arun Gawli's daughter a subdued affair within the walls of Dagdi Chawl|url=https://mumbaimirror.indiatimes.com/mumbai/other/watch-wedding-of-don-arun-gawlis-daughter-a-subdued-affair-within-the-walls-of-dagdi-chawl/articleshow/75628674.cms|access-date=2021-07-09|website=Mumbai Mirror|language=en}}</ref> Geeta is a first term ABS corporator from the Chinchpokli assembly constituency.<ref name=aa>{{Cite web|url=http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/latest-news/gawli-s-daughter-marries-developer/247339/|archive-url=https://archive.today/20130711063127/http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/latest-news/gawli-s-daughter-marries-developer/247339/|url-status=dead|archive-date=11 July 2013|title=Gawli's Daughter Marries Developer|work=Express India|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref>{{cbignore}} Gawli's nephew [[Sachin Ahir]] is an MLA and is the former Maharashtra Minister of State for Housing.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main1.asp?filename=Ne040304dagdi.asp |title=Dagdi Chawl's Daddy Cool |work=Tehelka Archive |access-date=2 December 2016 |url-status=bot: unknown |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160820031013/http://archive.tehelka.com/story_main1.asp?filename=Ne040304dagdi.asp |archive-date=20 August 2016 }}</ref> Gawli's uncle Hukumchand Yadav was a legislator from [[Khandwa]] in [[Madhya Pradesh]].<ref name=aa/>

==Criminal activities==
After working short stints as a factory worker at Simplex Mills Chinchpokli, Godrej & Boyce company Vikhroli and Crompton Greaves Kanjurmarg, Arun Gawli and his brother then started working for gangster Parasnath Pandey who ran a matka (gambling) and liquor den in Byculla. 
In 1977, gangsters Rama Naik and Babu Reshim teamed up and decided to form a joint Maharashtrian gang by uniting several individual gangsters from Central Mumbai suburbs of Agripada, Byculla, Mazgaon, Saat Rasta, Parel and Lalbaug. The new gang was called "Byculla Company" and the first mission was to eliminate gangsters like Kundan Dubey, Mohan Sarmalkar and Shashi Rasam, leader of the Cobra Gang. All of them were operating in Central Mumbai and  both Rama Naik and Babu Reshim had a score to settle with them.

Very soon other Maharashtrian gangsters from Central Mumbai like Sada Pawle, Kiran Walawalkar, Ganesh Bhosle alias Vakil, Chandrashekhar Mirashi, Ashok Choudhary alias Chhota Babu joined this new gang.
When his friend from Crompton Greaves Sada Pawle joined this gang, Gawli was also quick to join the Byculla Company as he and Rama Naik were schoolmates and he also knew Babu Reshim through Dilip Prabhu who was the workers union leader at Crompton Greaves. More importantly, Gawli also had a score to settle with gangster Parasnath Pandey.
Between 1977 and 1980, the Byculla Company first eliminated Shashi Rasam and his Cobra gang, followed by the murders of gangsters Parasnath Pandey, Mohan Sarmalkar and failed attempt on the life of Kundan Dubey who later fled from Mumbai.

The big break for Byculla Company came when Dawood Ibrahim's elder brother Saabir was murdered in 1981 by Samad Khan, Amirzada and Alamzeb of the Pathan gang. Dawood pleaded with Rama Naik for help and offered a hefty ransom in return. Naik accepted the deal and the Byculla Company including Arun Gawli and Rama Naik were involved in the murder plan of Samad Khan, nephew of Karim Lala and heir to the Pathan gang in 1984.

Between 1984 and early 1988, Gawli and his mentor Naik managed the main criminal operations for Dawood Ibrahim in Mumbai. However, in early 1988, Rama Naik and Sharad Shetty, a henchman of Dawood from west Mumbai got into a property dispute over a large plot of land at Jogeshwari. Dawood sided with Shetty and Naik ended up feeling miffed with Dawood despite helping him eliminate his most dreaded enemy, Samad Khan. Naik and Gawli stopped managing Dawood's operations in Central Mumbai. A few months later, Naik was shot dead in a fake police encounter. Gawli realized that this encounter was done at the behest of Dawood and swore revenge. This unleashed a very violent gang-war between Arun Gawli and Dawood Ibrahim resulting in multiple shootouts and deaths at both sides. The brutal gang-war continued until Gawli was arrested by the police and imprisoned in 1994, again at the behest of Dawood.
 
Mumbai police raided the premises of Dagdi Chawl several times and finally broke Gawli's underworld operations. Gawli was arrested several times for criminal activities and was detained for long periods during the trial. However, he could not be convicted in most of the cases as witnesses would not depose against him for fear of retaliation. He was finally convicted of the murder of [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]] leader Kamlakar Jamsandekar by a court in August 2012. Gawli and eleven others were found guilty of Jamsandekar's murder and Gawali was sentenced to life imprisonment. Charge sheet of 138 pages were furnished by IPS Jayanthi Naidu - Joint Director Central Bureau of Investigation, 2002 Batch Officer.<ref>{{cite news|title=Arun Gawli convicted in murder case|url=http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/other-states/article3815954.ece|access-date=24 August 2012|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=24 August 2012|location=Chennai, India}}</ref>

In September 2025, after spending 17 years in jail on a murder charge, the Supreme Court of India granted Gawli bail in the case registered in 2007 in view of his pending appeal against a life sentence.<ref>{{Cite web |date=2025-09-04 |title=Gangster-turned politician Arun Gawli walks free after 17 years |url=https://www.mid-day.com/mumbai/mumbai-news/article/arun-gawli-walks-free-after-17-years-as-supreme-court-grants-bail-in-murder-case-23592455 |access-date=2025-09-04 |website=Mid-day |language=en}}</ref>

==Politics==
Gawli got political patronage in the 1980s, when the then Shiv Sena chief, [[Bal Thackeray]], criticised the Mumbai police for taking stringent action against Hindu gangsters like Arun Gawli and Sai Bansod, referring to them as ''amchi mulgey'' (our boys). Thackeray was challenged by a rival gangster in an open letter carried on the front page of a city tabloid.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/ie/daily/20000924/cover1.htm |title=Cover Story |access-date=2013-02-18 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130609100220/http://expressindia.indianexpress.com/news/ie/daily/20000924/cover1.htm |archive-date=2013-06-09 }}</ref> However, Gawli fell out with Shiv Sena in the mid-1990s, murdered Shiv Sena men and formed his own political party, the [[Akhil Bharatiya Sena]].

In 2004, Gawli was elected as a [[Member of Legislative Assembly (India)|Member of the Legislative Assembly]] (MLA) from the Mumbai [[Chinchpokli (Vidhan Sabha constituency)|Chinchpokli]] constituency as an Akhil Bharatiya Sena candidate. Gawli's rise in prominence is believed to be due to his "native roots" as a local lad, which makes him distinct from most other non-[[Marathi language|Marathi]]-speaking politicians.

Gawli's political designs suffered a major blow when his nephew and party legislator, [[Sachin Ahir]], came out openly against him and joined [[Sharad Pawar]]'s [[Nationalist Congress Party]]. Ahir even contested against Gawli in the subsequent [[Lok Sabha]] elections on a [[Nationalist Congress Party]] ticket, resulting in defeat for them both, but a victory for the [[Shiv Sena (1966–2022)|Shiv Sena]]'s sitting MP [[Mohan Rawale]]. Gawli's daughter Geeta is an ex-corporator of the [[Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation]].

==In popular culture==
*In the 2015 [[Marathi cinema|Marathi movie]] ''[[Dagadi Chawl]]'', [[Makarand Deshpande]]'s character called ''Daddy'' is mainly based on Arun Gawli's life. [[Ankush Chaudhari]] played the lead and as Arun Gawli's lieutenant.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/marathi/movies/news/Makarand-Anaspure-protagonist-in-Dagadi-Chawl/articleshow/48740510.cms|title=Makrand Deshpande as Arun Gawli - Times of India|work=indiatimes.com|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/entertainment/marathi/movies/news/Arun-Gawli-Dagdi-Chawl-Makrand-Deshpande/articleshow/48982427.cms|title=WATCH: Makrand as Arun Gawli - Times of India|work=indiatimes.com|access-date=2 December 2016}}</ref>
*The [[Bollywood|Hindi]] film ''[[Daddy (2017 film)|Daddy]]'', released on 8 September 2017, is based on Gawli's life, starring [[Arjun Rampal]] as Daddy.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://sociofreak.com/arun-gawli-wiki-daddy-wiki-arun-gawli-son-wife-daddy-review|title=Arjun Rampal as Daddy|date=8 September 2017|access-date=8 September 2017|archive-date=14 February 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190214233400/https://sociofreak.com/arun-gawli-wiki-daddy-wiki-arun-gawli-son-wife-daddy-review/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
* In the Netflix series ''[[Sacred Games (TV series)|Sacred Games]]'', based on a novel by Vikram Chandra, the lead character Ganesh Gaitonde is loosely based on Arun Gawli.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.rammayan.co.in/arun-gawli-biography-hindi-%E0%A4%85%E0%A4%B0%E0%A5%81%E0%A4%A3-%E0%A4%97%E0%A4%B5%E0%A4%B2%E0%A5%80.html|title=अरुण गवली का जीवन परिचय-Arun Gawli Biography in Hindi. Ramayan.|access-date=17 April 2022}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}
{{Organised crime in India}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gawli, Arun}}
[[Category:Living people]]
[[Category:Maharashtra MLAs 2004–2009]]
[[Category:Akhil Bharatiya Sena politicians]]
[[Category:Criminals from Mumbai]]
[[Category:Marathi politicians]]
[[Category:1955 births]]
[[Category:Indian Hindus]]
[[Category:Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by India]]
[[Category:Indian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment]]
[[Category:Indian people convicted of murder]]
[[Category:People convicted of murder by India]]
[[Category:Prisoners and detainees of Maharashtra]]