Two weeks have slipped past since the bail order was passed, but Gawli has remained inside Yerawada, giving rise to speculation galore including one that he is running scared of his rivals.

Gawli has, in the meantime, moved two separate petitions -- one in the Bombay High Court and the other before a Judicial Magistrate (First Class) in Ghodegaon -- pleading for police protection.

While his lawyers are busy arguing in the court that seeking police protection is his constitutional right, Gawli has been cooling his heels at Yerawada jail.

Gawli's counsel Harshad Nimbalkar admits that fear psychosis is the main and only reason why his client has been dilly-dallying in stepping out of prison.

``We have already taken possession of the bail order issued by the High Court. The moment he completes formalities like producing a surety and signing a bond relating to his conduct, Gawli will be able to step out of jail. But he seems to be waiting for the High Court verdict on his application demanding police protection,'' his lawyer says.

Gawli was arrested along with his three relatives and 170 workers of his Akhil Bharatiya Sena after a team of Pune rural police was attacked outside his father-in-law's bungalow at Wadgaon Paanchpir near Pune on August 10. The policemen had gone to Wadgaon Paanchpir to search the bungalow where Gawli had been camping since February.

This is for the second time in the last five years that Gawli has refused to step out of prison. In March 1994, Gawli created a similar situation by refusing to fulfill the conditions of bail granted to him in a TADA case. The killing of a gang member, Gurunath Walawalkar, in an encounter with the police had rattled him then.

Incidentally, his reluctance to step out of prison this time comes at a time when another of his aides, Namdeo Patil, was killed in an encounter with the police at Wakad near Pune recently.