Protection granted by court to Sada Pawle’s brother

Saraogi told The Indian Express that the police had earlier posted two constables armed with lathis to protect Anand from gangsters. Moreover, the policemen were standing guard at the entrance of the five-storey railway quarters at Vidyavihar where the family lived, he added. “Actually Anand needs protection and not bandobast near his residence. Thegangsters can easily slip past the two constables and attack Anand,” Saraogi said.

Although names have been withheld, it is feared that Arun Gawli gang members may be behind the recent threats after Pawle and his family members turned hostile and retracted their affidavits that they were witnesses to the encounter killing of Sada Pawle and Vijay Tandel on September 26, last year. The other key witness Baldev Singh is also feared to have been abducted, sources said. On April 2, the Principal Sessions Judge A S Aguiar, who is inquiring into the encounter case, rejected Pawle’s pleas for police protection. In his application, Pawle had said that there was a danger to his life.

Strangely, Baldev Singh has been reported missing even though a non-bailable warrant had been issued against him on April 2. The warrant is returnable on April 20. Singh, a senior Central Railway ticket collector, disappeared under mysterious circumstances after he left his residence at Tembipada in Bhandup to appear before theinquiry Commission on April 2.