Don Arun Gawli Tops Exam on Gandhian Thought in Nagpur Jail

The exam that Gawli took in his cell, was conducted in an ‘open book format’ on the Gandhian thought.

Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, who is currently serving a life sentence at the Nagpur Central Jail, is in news for a good reason. Gawli has topped an exam organised on jail premises on the Gandhian thought, scoring 74 out of 80 marks.

As part of the rehabilitation programme and a way to teach inmates the principles of the Mahatma, the exam is organised every year by Sahyog Trust, Sarvodaya Ashram and Mumbai Sarvodaya Mandal, The Times of India reported.

Ravindra Bhusari, the trustee of the exam, told The Times of India that the applicants have options to choose from, but they have to write their answers as against ticking the options. The exam is conducted in the "open book" format.

Gawli was born in Kopargaon in Maharashtra’s Ahmednagar district; his father Gulabrao had moved from Khandwa in Madhya Pradesh to Maharashtra in the early 1950s. Much of the Gawli clan – including Arun’s father Gulab Gawli – worked in the mill industry, but his father was eager his children acquired good education.

His first stirrings into politics were through the Shiv Sena, or more specifically through the then chief Bal Thackeray, who, in the 1980s, criticised the Mumbai Police for taking action against Hindu gangsters like Gawli and Sai Bansod – calling them amchi muley (our boys).

The Sena and Gawli fell out in the mid-90s – following which Gawli murdered a number of Shiv Sena men. He eventually formed his own political party – Akhil Bharatiya Sena – and contested Assembly elections in 2004, getting elected from Dagdi Chawl.

Gawli was arrested by the police several times – and imprisoned for nine years under the TADA – but could not be detained for too long any of the times since most witnesses were scared of deposing against him. He was finally convicted of the murder of Shiv Sena leader Kamlakar Jamsandekar in 2012. Gawli is currently serving a life sentence in jail.

(Read the complete story of Gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli here.)