Gawli’s VDIS sum a shock to `hungry’ team

Gawli gang’s finances have hit rock bottom in the past few months following the arrest of Arun Gawli and the killings of several top-rung men, including the dreaded Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel. Things have come to such a pass that the gang can no longer afford to send the daily `dabba’ to its 67 members serving prison terms in various jails across the state. Pay packets are not reaching informers, shooters andwatchers and families who have lost their kin in gangwars and skirmishes with the police are no longer sure of their next monthly compensation packet from the gang.

Compare this with the days when three-course meals used to be sent to the gang members from hotels located in the vicinity of the jails. Sometimes cooks were hired to prepare dishes which catered to the tastes of some of the top-rung shooters. While such lavish vegetarian meals twice-a-day cost the gang around Rs 3,000 a month, the food for those preferring meat used to cost the gang around Rs 5,000 a month.

The bill included sweet dishes and the money paid to jail staff to supply the same to the inmates. Defaulting on payments too was unheard of in Gawli gang till a few months back. In fact the `G’ company was among the best-run gang’s in the city. This distinction Gawli had won through careful nurturing of his cadre. But all this is history now. The `G’ company had splurged money on the short-lived Akhil Bharatiya Sena, its political wingand also the root cause of all its current woes.

The gang’s expenditure on court cases too has increased manifold, while its earnings have taken a sharp dive just as the gang’s standing in the underworld. At least five gangsters have changed sides in the last six months, three to the Chhota Rajan gang. But, Gawli is still far from a spent force. There are people in the gang who continue to swear by him and are willing to overlook small indiscretions. “A king can break rules once in a while. He must have saved some money for himself. As long as Daddy is worried about our welfare, we are with him,” said one such loyalist.