Who is Lalit Patil, who ran an illegal drug network from Pune hospital and escaped from custody?

After his arrest by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police in December 2020, Lalit was lodged in Yerwada Central Prison. He was admitted to Pune’s Sassoon Hospital in June this year for treatment of hernia and tuberculosis. On September 30, the Pune city police arrested Patil’s aide Subhash Janaki Mandal (29) from a spot near the hospital with over 1.71 kg of mephedrone, worth Rs 2.14 crore. This arrest spilled the beans on how Lalit ran his drug network.

What did police find about his network?

Investigation by the Pune police revealed that Patil, who was under treatment at ward number 16 of the Sassoon Hospital, supplied mephedrone to Mandal through Rauf Rahim Shaikh (19), a worker at the hospital canteen. The police then seized two iPhones, each worth Rs 1.1 lakh, from Patil during a search at the hospital ward. An FIR was lodged against him, Mandal and Shaikh at the Bundgarden police station under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act.

When did he escape?

While he was lodged in prison, he claimed to be unwell and was admitted to the Sassoon Hospital, from where he is alleged to have operated his gang. When this was highlighted in the media, he escaped from the hospital on October 2. Soon after there were allegations that two cabinet ministers had helped him escape in a brazen manner from the hospital.

What action has been taken against him?

Earlier this month, the Sakinaka police, under the supervision of DCP Zone X, Datta Nalawade, raided a factory in the MIDC area of Nashik and seized huge amounts of drugs. The factory is believed to be owned by Bhushan Patil, brother of Lalit Patil. Bhushan Patil was later arrested from the Nepal border by Pune police.