The gunshots in Vadodara exposes city’s criminal underbelly
Pune cops suffered injuries but managed to arrest a gang member of Gajanan Marne whose rivalry with Nilesh Ghaywal since 2008
The recent incidents of gang wars in broad daylight have shattered the quiet life that Pune city is known for. With hundreds of global companies set up in the city attracting well-paid employees and high lifestyle, real estate is a booming industry and so is land mafia, a nexus comprising politicians, criminals, property dealers and corrupt government officials.
On Thursday (August 11), an assistant police inspector and a constable were attacked by a member of the notorious Gajanan Marne gang. Gangster Sagar Rajput, a wanted criminal in a Pune murder case, fired at the police officials who were trying to arrest him at Vadodara (Gujarat) around 10.30 pm on August 10. The cops sustained injuries in crossfire but nabbed Rajput. The recent shooting and arrest is a dark chapter to the Nilesh Ghaywal-Gajanan Marne rivalry that started in the 1980s in the city.
The police records point to the late 1960s as the start of organised crime in the city. By the late 1980s, Malvadkar and Andekar gangs started fighting to establish supremacy. Later their venture into politics and booming real estate gave a violent phase to gang wars in Pune as killings became a part of everyday city life.
History sheeters Marne and Ghaywal have a violent history. It is alleged that Ghaywal used to be a close aide of Marne before a financial dispute made them arch-rivals. Both the gangsters have tried to kill members of the other’s gang and have many cases filed against them, including murder, extortion, and possession of illegal arms. Marne and his accomplices were also prosecuted under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) but weak evidence always let them get bail. The police externed Ghaywal in 2009 but he managed to get it cancelled. The arrest of Ghaywal from Kothrud in July 2010 in connection with a murder of a member of Marne gang was crucial. Marne was also arrested but both operated from behind bars.
Gajanan Marane
Marne claims to do social work through his organisation ‘Hamraj Mitra Mandal’ based at Shastri Nagar, Kothrud. His wife Jayshree Marne is the leader belonging to a leading political party. Thus, the killing of land dealer and Marne gang member Kunal Pol in 2013 highlighted the organised crime nexus comprising politicians and builders and broad daylight murder of a Ghaywal gang member near a crematorium in November 2014 in Pune shows the gang’s daredevilry. Increasing bloodshed is also due to the presence of large number of illegal firearms dealers and recruitment of youngsters with clean records, leaving the police flummoxed. The gangs have branched out and started threatening service industries for labour contracts, which include scrap, transport, security, canteen at newly developing industries and malls.
Gajanan Pandrinath Marne, alias ‘Maharaj’ is a native of Mulshi taluka, Marnewadi village. He studied at a Kothrud school and started his criminal activities in 1988, where he was booked for indulging in fights. He started Hamraj Mitra Mandal and organised Ganesh Utsav to mobilise youth who were impressed by his leadership qualities. Nilesh Bansilal Ghaywal of Dnyaneshwar Colony in Kothrud was a native of Sanegaon village in Jamkhed tehsil in Ahmednagar district. A masters in commerce and working in a company, he also dealt in cable business. With the help of Marne, Ghaywal’s cable business developed and the duo became good friends and later gangsters.
Nilesh Ghaywal
It is alleged that both of them murdered Milind Dhole, the president of Patit Pawan Sanghatana, Pune and Mahendra Kawedia, the prime accused in Satish Misal murder case at Harjivan Hospital near Sarasbaug. Lodged in Yerawada jail, Marane had conflicts with notorious gangster Baba Bodake on the issue of supremacy with regard to land dealing in Mulshi. In lieu of this conflict, a member of Baba Bodake gang Parashuram Jadhav along with his associates murdered an important member of Marne gang Sudhir Rasal at Sahakarnagar. In this conflict, Bodake and Marane took a neutral stand and Ghaywal left the Marne gang to started his own.
The two gangsters have eliminating members of each other’s gang since 2009, and both are growing in number and violence. The recent encounter in Vadodara has once again exposed the criminal underbelly of the quiet city as most gangsters, if not disappeared, were at least lying low.
yogesh.wagh@goldensparrow.com
Originally published on The Golden Sparrow
