Kalokhe granted bail in ‘mephedrone’ case

The following day, 12 kg of the same substance was found in his locker at the police station, and a separate case was registered against him.

The cases suffered a blow when chemical analysis reports of the substances ruled that it was monosodium glutamate, commonly known as ajinomoto, and not mephedrone, and several of Kalokhe’s co-accused including drug peddler Shashikala alias Baby Patankar were granted bail on the basis of these reports.

Kalokhe, who applied for bail on the grounds that the locker was also used by his colleagues at the police station, was granted bail by the court on Friday.

“We will use this release order to support Kalokhe’s bail plea in the case filed against him by the Satara police as well,” said Kalokhe’s lawyer, advocate Jayesh Wani.

The Mumbai police claimed to have found a ‘fake’ Election Commission card in Kalokhe’s office locker. The election card allegedly has the constable’s photo, but has the name of Patankar’s late husband, Ramesh Kamlakar.

Among grounds for opposing Kalokhe’s bail plea, the police cited the fake election card as “a new aspect to investigate”.

The Crime Branch submitted that it cannot rule out the possibility of Patankar and Kalokhe having travelled out of the country previously since her passport is not in the police custody.

In their application, the police said Patankar allegedly received 150 kg mephedrone from another arrested accused, Manikan Samuel. “The Crime Branch hasn’t found the whole consignment and cannot discount the possibility of Kalokhe having hidden some of it,” the application opposing Kalokhe’s bail read.

mumbai.newsline@expressindia.com