Arun Gawli escorts mother's body for last rites

Mumbai: The last rites of Laxmi Gawli — mother of gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli alias Daddy — were carried out at Shamshan bhumi (Hindu crematorium), Reay Road, south Mumbai, at around 9.30 pm on Monday. Arun Gawli made it to his Dagdi Chawl home at around 5 pm from Nagpur Central prison where he is serving his life sentence, although his appeal against the conviction is pending with the Bombay high court.

Laxmi Gawli’s body was brought to her residence an hour before Arun Gawli’s arrival, and over 500 people visited Dagdi Chawl to pay their last respects. Arun Gawli performed arti and sat beside his mother’s body in the open truck that ferried them to the crematorium. More than 100 people followed the truck, causing a huge traffic jam. People from as far as Mulund and Thane attended Laxmi Gawli’s last rites.

A man who identified himself as Hiten said, “Our relation with Daddy is very old. We shifted to the suburbs around a decade ago but we still remember how he helped us in our time of need.”

Teams of plain clothed policemen along with crime branch personnel kept a watch on the proceedings at the cremation of gangster Arun Gawli’s mother, Laxmi Gawli, on Monday. The officials kept a watch on who all met Gawli, who was flown in from the Nagpur jail to Mumbai for attending her last rites. The investigators also allegedly shot video clips at the spot for later analysis.

Officials from the local Worli police station in whose jurisdiction the cremation took place, had thrown sizeable presence at the crematorium. Gawli is out on 45 days parole and he will be completing the 13 days rituals following his mother's demise. Gawli is lodged in a Nagpur jail while serving a life sentence for the 2007 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamalakar Jamsandekar.

“We have put up adequate security at the place and around it. Nothing more can be shared," said Virendra Mishra, deputy commissioner of police, zone III.