Thursday, November 10 2005 17:31 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Mumbai: The Sessions court today (Nov 10, 2005) directed gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli, who has been booked in an extortion case by Mumbai Crime Branch and evading arrest, to be present in the court tomorrow (Nov 11, 2005) during the hearing of his plea for anticipatory bail.

Hearing Gawli's plea, Judge Abhay Thipsay asked the applicant to be present in the court tomorrow after an assurance from the prosecution that they would not arrest him while appearing in the court.

The court adjourned the matter till tomorrow.

Earlier, the prosecution demanded that the applicant be present during the hearing while the defense refused to accept it saying it feared arrest of the applicant before appearing in the court.

On court's insistence, the prosecution assured it would not (not) arrest the applicant, but would question him to record his statement in the case.

Police had raided Gawli's residence 'Dagdi Chawl' in central Mumbai on November 8, soon after he was booked for allegedly extorting lakhs of rupees from a businessman to settle a business dispute. However, Gawli fled from the spot, police added.

Meanwhile, police is likely to book the Chinchpokli MLA under MCOCA along with his close aide Sunil Ghate, who is also one of the accused in the extortion case.