A complaint has been lodged with the Mahatma Phule police station. Pawar received a call at his Kalyan residence at 6.45 pm from an unidentified caller who said, ``Aapne Kishore Keswani ke saath accha nahin kiya(you were not fair with Keswani)''. When Pawar inquired about the identity of the caller, he refused to reveal his name.

The caller further said, ``Aapne dusre ke kandhe pe bandook rakh kar chalayi. Hum bandook chalayenge to aapka Kalyan mein jeena mushkil ho jayega (You used somebody else' shoulder to fire on us. If we started shooting then you will find it difficult to live in Kalyan.)

The caller was referring to an article which had appeared in Express Newsline on November 18, which detailed how the police has charged Keswani under theIndian Explosives Act and his alleged collusion with former Dawood Ibrahim aide, Gopal Rajwani. Though the said article was written by another Indian Express reporter, the caller said Keswani believed that Pawar had tipped off his colleague.

Following the threatening call, Pawar spoke to Thane police commissioner Bhujangrao Mohite who asked him to lodge a police complaint and assured police action, as did deputy commissioner of police, zone-III, Suresh Ahire. Keswani, a first time corporator nominated to the UMC, is one of the most controversial politicians of the area. Keswani and Kamal Bathija were arrested following a raid by the crime branch at Ulhasnagar on a chemical-laden truck on July 27 this year. In response Keswani has filed a complaint against certain police officers with the State CID. An inquiry has been instituted to look into his complaint.