HVK Archives: Source of ABC funds baffles authorities
Source of ABC funds baffles authorities - The Sunday Observer
Sunil K Poolani
()
3-9 August 1997
Title: Source of ABC funds baffles authorities
Author: Sunil K Poolani
Publication: The Sunday Observer
Date: August 3-9, 1997
Who funds Arun Gawli's Akhil Bharatiya Sena?
Though the answer may be obvious - that Gawli, who now nurses political
ambitions, may be using the wealth he had amassed as an underworld don -
the Shiv Sena-Bharatiya Janata Party government in Maharashtra and the
police are desperately, but so far vainly, trying to obtain concrete
evidence to bring down the man and his party.
Consider the following:
Around 60,000 people (though the ABS says more than 1.5 lakh) turned out
for a massive rally led by Gawli's wife Asha on 17 July in Bombay. More
than 1,000 luxury tourist buses were hired to bring people from every part
of Maharashtra. ABS members admit that each participant was paid between Rs
250 and Rs 1,000 for their exertions.
Every shakha adhyaksh is paid Rs 5,000 per mensem, a shakha sanghatak gets
Rs 3,000 pm, and every adhyaksh who has enrolled 50 members is presented
with a car or jeep. Daily allowances of at least Rs 50 are given to office
workers or karyakartas.
Gawli's hitmen like Sada Pawle, Prakash Mudras, and Sunil Ghatye, accused
in several murder and extortion cases and who now don politician's garb
like Gawli, are believed to get a salary of at least Rs 1 lakh a month.
Though all this is public knowledge, no documentary evidence is available
to show the origin of the money which has baffled the police. "Of course,
we are aware of this and are investigating it. But right now 1 am not in a
position to give details," says Bombay Police Commissioner Subhash Chandra
Malhotra.
So where do the police think Gawli gets his money from? "Extortion,
contract killings, and prostitution," says Ranjit Singh Sharma, Bombay's
joint commissioner of police (crime). "Gawli floated the party with the
money he had amassed through illegal deals. He is still doing it. Who do
you think was behind the killing of builder Vallabhbhai Thakkar? Without
extortion money his gang cannot survive. The tragedy is that very few
people come forward and give evidence against Gawli."
ABS leaders deny these allegations. Says party general secretary Jitendra
Dabholkar, an erstwhile Shiv Sena activist: "None of us [in the ABS] needs
money. We are united under the banner of the ABS to fight atrocities by
the present state government which has not fulfilled any of its poll
promises. We know from where these allegations originate: Matoshree [Shiv
Sena chief Bal Thackeray's residence].
Avers Shashikant Bhankar, Bombay karyalay pramukh: "We organized the rally
with contributions from our members spread across the state. We don't get
any money from Daddy [as Gawli is affectionately called by his men] or Raju
Philip [a Gawli henchman who is incharge of Gawli's personal finances]. If
you think we are given vehicles, you may come to my place and verify for
yourself." But he did not say where he lived.
Bhankar who first said he is a full-time ABS worker later denied it, saying
he works for the Bombay Municipal Corporation.
Bhankar and Sanjay Midbaukar, ABS shakha sanghatak, admit that most members
of the new party, including themselves, are from the Shiv Sena. "When we
got miffed with the Shiv Sena, we joined the ABS. We are social workers who
want to make a difference to society. Most politicians become corrupt once
they acquire power. Daddy doesn't deny that he was once an underworld don:
he is a changed man today, and wants to fight the evil practices prevalent
in society. If someone is trying to stop us, it is unjust and undemocratic."
But whatever Gawli's aides may say, even Gawli will not dispute the fact
that without money it is impossible to run even one office, let alone the
500-odd offices the ABS itself claims to have set up all over Maharashtra.
"And money is never a problem for our gang as Gawli is very close to
several mill-owners and builders who are only too willing to help the ABS
provided they are allowed to live in peace," says a shakha adhyaksh from
Murbad in Thane district who has been given a jeep after he enrolled more
than 100 members for the party.
Since money knows no colour, tens of thousands of youngsters from even
erstwhile Shiv Sena bastions like Bombay's Lalbaug and Parel have jumped
onto the ABS bandwagon. Curiously, all ABS offices are full of statues and
pictures of Chhatrapati Shivaji. "I believe none of them joined the
hoodlum's party with a genuine interest or ideology. What is luring them
is easy money," says JCP Sharma.
The ABS had fielded some independent candidates for the Bombay civic
elections earlier this year, and is seriously thinking of contesting the
next assembly and parliamentary elections.
But how can the Election Commission allow a party led by a gangster to
contest elections? Says state election commissioner D K Sankaran: "The EC
has nothing to do with Gawli or his ABS. So far, his party has not been
registered with the commission. Unless and until Gawli's party plans to
contest the elections, the EC cannot give any verdict."
Even the income-tax department does not know how to unearth the source of
Gawli's party's funds. Says Deputy Director of Income-Tax (investigation)
Ravindra: "So far we haven't got instructions to investigate the ABS's
source of income as it is not a recognized party. Most political parties
are secretive about the money they receive and spend, and in the absence of
any documentary evidence it will be difficult to take action against any
party for that matter. If you ask from where they got the money for the
rally, the ABS organizers may say they collected it from 'well-wishers'.
So what can one do?"
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