Byculla Bhai

THERE is no poetry or romance about Arun Gulab Gawli. With the Gandhi cap perched at a politically correct angle, this unassuming, diminutive 43-year-old does not come through as the man who challenged Dawood Ibrahim's supremacy in Mumbai's underworld. But then Gawli is known to be cold and ruthless. And though he says he has taken sanyas from the underworld, the armed lookouts on his terrace at Dagdi Chawl tell quite a different story. Released from jail after seven years, Gawli is at the crossroads: he can either try to reassert his supremacy or call it a day and turn to social work—and perhaps join politics. He seems to be toying with the latter option.

Gawli, of course, reiterates that politics is the last thing on his mind. But there are pointers that he is keen to do a Haji Mastan and enter public life. For one, the elusive Gawli has become media-friendly and does not mind being interviewed or photographed. He also has a stream of visitors—not all well-wishers of Dagdi Chawl where Gawli is a desi Robin Hood.

Shiv Sena shakha pramukhs and local leaders are among those who queue up outside his house. And though Gawli maintains that he has never met Bal Thackeray, the Sena chief has often sung Gawli's praises. "If there is a Dawood Ibrahim, then we have our Gawli," he is reported to have said at a public meeting last year. This has added to speculation that Gawli wants to be inducted into the Sena and that he might contest the corporation elections in February.

Whether Thackeray would like to rope in a criminal, accused of practically every crime from bootlegging to murder, is another question. With the Sena's image on a downslide, there will be considerable objection to Gawli's induction. Also, the Sena has in its ranks Nita Naik, the corporator wife of Ashwin Naik, one of Gawli's bitter rivals.

But the former don has friends in other political parties too. Congress leader Chhagan Bhujbal is said to be close to him. And if no party accommodates him, Gawli might even contest as an Independent.

But why does Gawli wish to turn over a new leaf? According to the police, he wants to opt out because his rivals are waiting for an opportunity to strike back. It is not only Dawood's outfit—the infamous 'D' company—which has trained its sights on him but also the latest kingpins on the block: Ashwin Naik and Kumaran Pillai. While Ashwin is an electronics engineer who studied in London, Kumaran has a masters in technology from the US. The two have vowed to take revenge on Gawli.

Ashwin's brother, Amar, and Gawli have long been rivals. But the 1994 shootout in which Gawli's men tried to kill Ashwin outside the sessions court marked out the battlelines. Ashwin was hospitalised for over a year in Mumbai's JJ Hospital and still walks with a limp. Gawli denies he had a hand in any of the killings but says he fears the worst—not from rivals but from the police. Says he: "I am not afraid of any rival. My only fear is that the police may get me. I have spent close to 10 years in jail. Now I wish to spend time with my family. But the police want to put me back in prison. "

Despite Gawli's stand that he is innocent and that his "crusade was only against Dawood who was destroying the youth of the country by pushing drugs", he is afraid of being framed. Visitors to his house in Dagdi Chawl, a lower middle-class residential area in Byculla, are screened before being led up to the first floor house of the don. "He has to be careful about security because bullets can come from the police or from rivals," explains a friend who is taking us for the 'audience' with the 'big' man.

Gawli's drawing room is garishly done up and pictures of Hindu gods and goddesses adorn the walls. The room is a far cry from the dank one-room tenements in the area. But then he has not been in the matka and bootlegging business for over 15 years for nothing. "When I started out we had one room. But now we have a lot more space," he says modestly. The drawing room is strictly for the family. So we move to the terrace where Bhai Gawli holds court. As he answers questions, visitors go through the ritual of touching the 'great' man's feet. "In this area he is like a god," one of the hangers-on tells us. Gawli is quick to point out that people respect him because he lent them a helping hand. "When I was employed as an ordinary worker with Crompton Greaves I got them jobs. Later, I used my influence to get them work at the Mazgaon docks and in the cotton mills."

Though he insists he is not communal, Gawli was seen as the Hindu community's answer to Dawood after the Mumbai blasts. He was in Amravati prison then but his gang was active. When the 'D' company was marginalised after the serial blasts, Gawli emerged as the new don. Once the Sena came to power, the police went soft on Gawli's outfit. But despite this, the don feels the need of a political cover to survive.

Interestingly, Dawood and Gawli "tolerated each other" till 1986. Things changed after Dawood shifted from gold smuggling to drugs. Recalls Gawli: "We fell foul after he started selling brown sugar in Byculla. My boys were dead against it. Initially, there were a few killings and then the war hotted up. A lot of people have died. I don't know how many. But now I don't have to worry about Dawood. His gang has split. His own people will finish him."

But the sharpshooters are waiting to gun him down as well. This has confined Gawli to Dagdi Chawl. He refuses to come down to the temple he has constructed for his 'people' outside his house. Citing 'security risks,' he poses for pictures only on his terrace with a protective ring of gang members. As for wife Asha and their four children, they don't want him to go back to the business. "I want to enjoy family life. I don't want to be part of the underworld. My family needs me. That is why I filed petition after petition to get out of jail," says Gawli. With enemies milling around him, one wonders whether Gawli can step out without being harmed.