Arun Gawli being taken into custody by the Agripada police on Tuesday after he was arrested in connection with the attack on an "Asian Age" reporter. He is likely to be produced before a magistrate for remand on Wednesday.

MUMBAI, July 22: In a swift operation amidst high drama, the Mumbai police stormed underworld don Arun Gawli's fortified Dagdi Chawl residence this afternoon and arrested him in connection with Monday's assault on a woman journalist of a city newspaper.

Tension gripped the Dagdi Chawl at around 1.20 pm when a combined posse of 50 policemen from the neighbouring Nagpada and Agripada police stations swamped the gangster-infested hideout. The raiding policemen were mobbed by local residents, including women from the area, who made desperate attempts to foil the don's arrest.

``Gawli had locked himself in his fortified second floor apartment, guarded by three steel doors. He peeped from the window but refused to open the door despite the fact that we yelled at him requesting him to surrender,'' said Assistant Commissioner of Police U O Bodwade.

When all efforts to persuade Gawli to open the steel gates failed, the police were left with little option but to break open the steel doors with the help of crow bars, Bodwade added.

Once the doors were forced open at around 1.45 pm, the policemen found Gawli hiding behind his wife Asha who held on to him in a bid to protect him from the police. ``She implored us not to touch him,'' said an officer from the raiding police party. Senior Inspector RK Rathod from the Agripada police station added that the don was in mortal fear of physical punishment from the police.

``If I was told about the arrest I would have opened the door earlier,'' Gawli later told the policemen.

Arun Gawli, when being photographed, yelled, ``I am totally innocent. There is a political conspiracy working to spoil my image.''

Asha, abusing Shiv Sena chief Bal Thackeray, burst out ``The police have broken our house to arrest my husband, and it all has happened on the direction of Thackeray.''

Ugly scenes prevailed outside Agripada police station around 2.30 pm, where Gawli was detained. Shouting slogans, a strong mob from the nearby Dagdi Chawl thronged the police station seeking the release of their `Daddy'.

At around 3.30 pm, four burly policemen bundled up the frail Gawli wearing a white kurta and pyjama, thrust him into a waiting police jeep and quickly drove him down to the crime branch lockup at the police headquarters, Crawford Market.

Jitendra Dabholkar, a spokesperson for Gawli's newly floated Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS), said that the government had not learned its lessons even after paying a fine of Rs 25,000 for arresting him in February last. ``They seem to have a lot of money to spend,'' he added sarcastically.

According to zonal DCP Param Bir Singh, Gawli's close associates Raju Philip and Suresh Dattatray Bhaskar were picked up from their Dagdi Chawl hideout earlier in the morning after they were named in an FIR filed by Asian Age staffer Anindita Ramaswamy last evening.

Fifteen persons, including Arun Gulab Gawli, have been named in the first information report filed at Agripada Police Station.

Singh added that while Bhaskar's antecedents were being examined, Philip has 13 charges, including four murder charges, against him.

All the accused have been booked under Section 142 to 149 and 506 part II, 324 and 32 IPC for rioting, threatening to kill and criminal instigation.

``Section 506 part II is a non-bailable offence and the accused can be detained for interrogation,'' Param Bir Singh added.

In the morning, security around Sena chief Bal Thackeray's Bandra (E) residence was doubled presumably in anticipation of Gawli's arrest. A police cordon was thrown around Thackeray's residence in Kalanagar and several roads were barricaded.

In the evening, shops and commercial establishments in several parts of the city downed their shutters fearing the worst. Shutters went down immediately in Gawli strongholds like Kanjurmarg, Bhandup and parts of Mulund when the news of his arrest spread.

Over half the shops in congested Kalbadevi from the Cotton Exchange to Princess Street quickly shut down allegedly after ABS members went about exhorting shopkeepers to close shop. Several shopkeepers could be seen peering from beneath half-shut shops for the first signs of trouble.

Jewellery shops in nearby Zaveri Bazar too shut down. ``Why take a chance when I can do business tomorrow,'' said a jeweller before hastily shutting his shop and leaving for the day.

Further down the road, crowds milled around a board put up by local ABS unit chief Prakash Ghadge condemning the state government for the arrest of `Tarun Hridaysamrat' (young leader of people's hearts).

Meanwhile, the Mumbai Marathi Patrakar Sangh (MMPS) has condemned the attack on journalists by members of the ABS. In a press release issued this evening, MMPS secretary Devdas Matale expressed his concern over increasing incidents of attacks on journalists.

Later, the women activists of the ABS spewed their venom while speaking to the press while they were protesting outside the Agripada police station today.

When Express Newsline asked them the reason behind their anger, one woman said, ``Tumlog kya kya akhbar me chhapkar mera Gawli bhai ko arrest karate ho, aur abhi puchane aye ho.''``That female reporter (from Asian Age) who came to our chawl has made up the story. I was present on the occasion when she visited us. There was no attack on her,'' claimed another member of the ABS.

Gawli's mother also termed as baseless the report that the Asian Age reporter had been attacked. ``How can our men attack a reporter, particularly a woman ? We honour all women, and it is against our principle to assault them. Police atrocities are at their peak, and it will not be tolerated by our activists,'' she stated.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.