MUMBAI, Sept. 4 -- Six days after the Supreme Court granted him bail in a murder case, former gangster-turned-politician Arun Gawli walked out of Nagpur Central Jail on Wednesday, after nearly 18 years of incarceration. The 76-year-old, also known as Daddy, was serving a life term for his involvement in the 2007 murder of Shiv Sena corporator Kamlakar Jamsandekar. In its bail order passed on August 28, an SC bench of justices MM Sundresh and N Kotiswar Singh noted that Gawli had been in jail for over 17 years and his appeal was still pending. The bail would be subject to conditions imposed by the trial court, it said. "Accordingly, the trial court set the conditions and issued a release order on Tuesday," said advocate Mir Nagman Ali, who represented Gawli. The Nagpur Central Jail administration maintained secrecy around Gawli's release, taking extra precautions to avoid untoward incidents. "After completing all legal formalities, Gawli was released around 12.30 pm on Wednesday," said Vaibhav Agey, superintendent of Nagpur Central Jail. As Gawli stepped out of the jail, he was greeted by his family members, supporters and lawyer waiting outside. Amid tight security, he was taken to the Nagpur airport, from where he left for Mumbai on a flight. Gawli, along with Dawood Ibrahim and Chhota Rajan, were the troika of the Mumbai underworld that terrorised the city through the 1990s. While Dawood fled the country after the 1993 Mumbai blasts, and Chhota Rajan is in Tihar Jail after his arrest in Indonesia and subsequent extradition to India in 2015, Gawli is now out on bail. Gawli and 11 of his associates were sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2007 murder of Jamsandekar by a special court for cases under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in 2012. The Bombay High Court upheld this conviction in a December 2019 ruling, which the accused then challenged in the Supreme Court. Last month, the apex court granted Gawli and his co-accused bail, observing the extraordinary delay in hearing their appeal. "Taking into consideration that the appellants have been incarcerated for almost 18 years, we are inclined to grant bail," the court said. Jamsandekar was shot dead by two motorcycle-borne assailants in Andheri on March 2, 2007. The Mumbai police's investigation revealed that it was a contract killing orchestrated by Gawli and his organised crime syndicate after the Shiv Sena leader defeated a candidate fielded by the Akhil Bharatiya Sena (ABS), Gawli's political party, in the 2007 civic elections. The involvement of Gawli's gang in the murder came to light in April 2008 when the police arrested four people who were allegedly trying to rob a jeweller in Kalbadevi. During their interrogation, they allegedly revealed their involvement in the Jamsandekar murder case and links to Gawli. Thereafter, the case was transferred to the crime branch, which eventually arrested Gawli and 19 others....