A special Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) court on Friday convicted gangster Arun Gawli and 11 others in a 2007 murder case of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. Gawli was an MLA at that time.
On the evening of March 2, 2007, four persons entered the house of Jamsandekar, a three-time corporator, and shot him dead from point blank range of a country-made revolver, in front of his daughter.
According to the charge sheet filed in 2008, Gawli was paid Rs. 30 lakh as a contract killing sum in 2006 by local property developers to eliminate Jamsandekar. He and other accused have been convicted under various sections of the MCOCA, and Sections 302 (murder), 34 (common intention) and 120B (criminal conspiracy) of the Indian Penal Code.
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Gawli was arrested on May 21, 2008. Accused Bala Surve, who died during the trial, and Sahebrao Bhintale were identified as among the key accused. They enlisted Gawli to murder Jamsandekar, due to business and political rivalry, according to the prosecution.
Sessions judge Prithviraj Chavan said Gawli and others operated as an “organised crime syndicate and engaged in extortion.” The murder was premeditated.