Action against Gawli not for any politician, says CP in affidavit

The CPDR plea had charged Mumbai police with killing alleged gangsters belonging to Gawli’s gang to please Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray. After Gawli launched his political outfit, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena, Thackeray was displeased with him and publicly opposed activities of the ABS.

In the recent past, many close associates of Gawli like Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel were shot dead by police in encounters. In yet another operation, the police stormed Gawli’s hideout Dagdi Chawl on suspicion and killed three alleged gangsters.

Answering CPDR’s charge that the Shiv Sena was using the state machinery to settle political scores with Akhil Bharatiya Sena, Mendonca has said: “Underworld criminal Arun Gawli was released from jail on December 11, 1996. After his release, he continued to indulge in criminal activities with greater intensity from his Dagdi Chawl base. "Therefore, it was necessary for the police to take action on Arun Gawli and his gangsters. These actions have been taken as per the law and inevitable requirement of the police organisation, and have not been carried out to suit any political will.”

The petition also demanded that a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) inquiry be initiated into the deaths of all alleged gangsters since January 1995. Replying to this, Mendonca said: “The petition has failed to impartially discern the incidents in the right perspective and the allegation that the police officers are accused persons is baseless. There is no case of registration of an offence against the concerned police officers.

Handing over the inquiry to the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) will psychologically demoralise the police officers and adversely affect their ability to face the hazards of the dangerous and firearm-wielding criminals.

" It will also boost the morale of the dreaded criminals to commit crimes fearlessly, thus destabilising the law and order situation in the city,” the police commissioner further stated.

The Director General of Police (DGP) Arvind Inamdar stated in his affidavit that the police officer was the best judge of the situation when a criminal offered any resistance to his arrest. If the criminal opened fire at the police, it was obvious that the police would retaliate, he stated.

Explaining why the police had failed to comply with the High Court directive to submit post mortem reports and photographs of gangsters who died in encounters, Commissioner of police Ronald H Mendonca stated that the post mortem reports had not arrived from the medical authorities.