MUMBAI, July 25: The City Civil and Sessions Court today extended the stay on notorious ganglord Arun Gawli's bail till July 28 and remanded him to judicial custody even as his party Akhil Bharatiya Sena claimed that cases against him are part of a `conspiracy'.

Principal Judge of the sessions court A S Aguiar today extended the stay on Gawli's bail till Monday, after special public prosecutor P R Namjoshi filed an application moments before the court proceedings were about to conclude.

While arguing on the application, Namjoshi said that Gawli and his two aides Suresh Bhaskar and Raju Philips, who were also arrested, had a criminal background. The trio has been accused of being involved in various murders, Namjoshi argued. While Gawli was allegedly involved in seven murder cases, Raju was named in five, it was stated. He added that there was threat to life of the Asian Age reporter Anindita Ramaswamy assaulted at Dagdi Chawl, if the three were released on bail.

Meanwhile, the Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS) floated by Gawli, today claimed that both the assault on the reporter and the forcible eviction of Chandraprabha Gajre from Dagdi Chawli in 1990, were part of a conspiracy hatched by the state government to malign the party which was getting popular by the day.

Addressing a press conference, Jitendra Dabholkar, general secretary ABS, said that the reporter did not enter Dagdi Chawli between 1.00 pm and 4.00 pm on that day as her name does not exist in the police log book. The Agripada police have registered a false case and even The Asian Age have claimed that Gawli's name was not mentioned in the First Information Report directly, Dabholkar said. Only three unidentified persons were mentioned by Ramaswamy, and Gawli's name was included at the behest of the Government, he alleged.

ABS Uttar Pradesh unit chief Utpal Chaudhary said Ramaswamy spoke to him on phone last night and complained that she was being used as a pawn by the police and the Shiv Sena.

On the Chandraprabha Gajre eviction case where an FIR has been lodged against Gawli, women residents of Dagdi chawl, today refuted charges made by Gajre that Gawli had harassed her and claimed that Gajre was of immoral character. Gajre, at a press conference claimed that Gawli had forcibly thrown her out of Dagdi Chawl and that he had evil intentions on her daughter.

Gawli was arrested by the Agripada police after a reporter of ian Age was assaulted by Gawli's henchmen at the don's hideout at Dagdi Chawl, Byculla on July 22, 1997. The next day, Gawli was produced before metropolitan magistrate Geeta Agrawal at the Mazgaon court who remanded him to judicial custody for a day and granted him bail yesterday. She, however, had stated the bail following the police request stating that they wanted to move high court against the bail order.

Copyright © 1997 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.