Goon turns social worker in the face of virus threat

Ghaiwal, whose gang was booked under MCOCA by the Pune police, has been ensuring food and water for the poor in Kothrud and the drought-stricken villagers of Jamkhed

Adreaded gangster of the city – Nilesh Ghaiwal, who has been out on bail, has deployed the crisis created by the pandemic and the ensuing lockdown for a complete image makeover or reformation – recasting himself as a social worker. He has taken 500 poor labourers and their families under his wings, while also fending for 50,000 villagers in his native place Jamkhed – a drought-prone taluka in Ahmednagar district.

Along with his brother, Sachin, who works as a sports teacher at the Millenium National School, in Pune, he has set up an eight-member social group to feed the downtrodden in the city as well as provide water and food to villagers back home, coordinating with the sarpanch concerned and city council.

In the wake of the lockdown, the duo conducted a quick survey in Kothrud. “We found families who’d run out of money and were stumped for groceries. Theirs was a struggle for survival for want of essential commodities,” Nilesh Ghaiwal told Mirror. They got their act together quickly and distributed a month’s stock of grocery to these people in March itself – an act they repeated in the first week of May. Their group members have also circulated their numbers among these folks offering help in exigency.

With their parents living at Sonegaon, a village in Jamkhed, the brothers frequented the place and were privy to the situation in those parts. The taluka was dependent on the Bhutwada and Kazewadi lakes for its survival, but the two water bodies and bore-wells in the villages had dried up three months earlier, pushing the taluka into a drought.

“There is no water in Jamkhed. The supply comes once a fortnight. Some have been paying Rs 150 for 750 litres of water a day, but this is beyond the pocket of most given the demography. Women were trudging long distances to fetch drinking water. We booked 10 water tankers to ensure regular water supply to these villages. The vehicles make four rounds in a day to cater to the water needs of the people,” informed the gangster on the mend.


The process is being monitored by Sachin, who has been parked at his village since March 15. Between them, they’ve been able to cover about 11villages in the area, supplying essential rations, vegetables and water supply. “People here belong to the Pardhi, Ghisadi and Vaidu community, who are steeped in penury. The lockdown has robbed them of all sources of livelihood. Even the farmers are unable to till their land in the absence of water. Those who worked in Pune and Mumbai have all returned to the villages with their families. This has made it difficult for the local administration to cater to all of them,” Sachin pointed out.

His presence in the village has helped him coordinate directly with the sarpanchs and the president of the Jamkhed council, he added.

“Jamkhed has always suffered scant rainfall. The pandemic has come as double whammy for the entire taluka. The burgeoning population in the middle of this crisis has turned into a huge challenge for the administration. Given this, the efforts being taken by Nilesh Ghaiwal and another organisation, Mahasangram Yuva Manch, have provided a much-needed succour,” acknowledged Vishal Naikwade, the tehsildar of Jamkhed.

This is a huge turnaround for Nilesh, who despite being a post-graduate in commerce, was part of the infamous Gajanan Marne gang, until he broke off to form his own group. The ensuing rivalry between him and the Marne gang turned into battle for supremacy in Kothrud and Mulshi, with most of their operations revolving around settling land disputes. The clashes between the two gangs were intense and bloody. Ghaiwal was booked for several offences, including murder, extortion and criminal conspiracy. His exploits had the Pune police initiate action against the Ghaiwal gang under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA). After being acquitted in several of the cases against him, Nilesh Ghaiwal was granted bail by Bombay High Court in October 2019.