Arun Gawli returns home for son's wedding

Mafia don-turned-politician Arun Gawli has arrived in his home town to attend and solemnise his only son Mahesh Gawli's wedding to be held on Saturday.

The 63-year-old, who was granted a 15-day parole by the Bombay High Court (Nagpur Bench), walked out of jail Tuesday afternoon and returned to Mumbai Wednesday.

Convicted for murder and undergoing a life sentence in Nagpur Central Jail, he returned to a grand homecoming in the evening in a convoy of seven busloads of cheering supporters and around dozens of youngsters on motorbikes to his Dagdi Chawl residence in south Mumbai.

Mahesh Arun Gawli (27) will tie the knot with Krutika Ahir (20) of Nagpur at a mega-bash planned here on Saturday.

Besides the welcome, Dagdi Chawl, the decrepit complex of tiny tenements, also erupted into festivities and celebrations spilling onto the congested vicinity, inhabited mostly by lower middle-class working people.

Thrilled to see her father returning home, Gawli's daughter Geeta, a municipal corporator, said the 'king' has returned though briefly.

Geeta told media persons that wedding preparations have been underway for many weeks at their home - a veritable penthouse within the three-storeyed chawl complex, with lavish trappings, well-appointed, air-conditioned rooms and a private lift for 'Daddy' (Gawali's popular name), 'Mummy' Asha and other family members.

Lots of home-made sweets and food stuff, colourful decorations and lighting of the chawl complex, music, dancing and merry making among the residents mark the ongoing pre-wedding celebrations.