Crime branch seeks death penalty for Arun Gawli in murder case

The crime branch said it was a case in which an elected representative was murdered by an MLA. "Jamsandekar was a public figure and he was killed by Gawli, who is also a public representative and therefore this is a special case and demands death punishment," special prosecutor Raja Thakare said.

On Friday, special judge Prithiviraj Chavan had convicted Gawli and eleven others for their involvement in the murder case four years ago.

Thakare argued Gawli was heading an organised crime syndicate and used Akhil Bhartiya Sena (ABS) as a political front for his "criminal activities".

Demanding death penalty for Gawli and accused Vijay Giri and Pratap Borse, Thakare argued that this was a first case, in which a kingpin of an organised crime syndicate had been convicted.

He also argued that Gawli had been running the organised crime syndicate in the city for many years and had been booked for serious offences. "The gang has slowly expanded its horizons, where they misguided youths and got them to do illegal work," Thakare said, adding the gang continued to operate from jail.

The defence will argue on the point of sentence tomorrow.

Hundreds of supporters of Gawli gathered at the court today. Gawli's mother, wife and daughter were also present.