AGENCIES|MUMBAI

Gangster Arun Gawli, serving life sentence for murder, has topped an exam based on Gandhian thoughts. An inmate of the Nagpur central prison, Gawli scored 74 out of 80 marks in the examination, based on the concept of the ideals of Mahatma Gandhi. Around 160 prisoners appeared for the examination, conducted by NGOs Sahyog Trust, Sarvoday Ashram and Mumbai Sarvoday Mandal in October last year. The result was declared last week, Sahyog Trust trustee Ravindra Bhusari said.

In the exam, inmates have to answer 80 objective type questions. Those who pass the exam receive a certificate and Khadi clothes as a prize.

“Before the exam, study material on Gandhiji’s books were provided in the jail,” Bhusari said. The examinees included convicts, under trials and those serving jail terms, he added. Gawli, currently lodged in the Nagpur central jail, is serving a life sentence for the 2007 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamalakar Jamsandekar.

Gawli and 11 others were convicted in 2012 for the offence, and it was the first conviction against Gawli, who has had a long list of criminal cases against him.

Known as ‘Daddy’ in Mumbai’s Dagdi Chawl area, Gawli later joined politics and floated his own party named the Akhil Bharatiya Sena.