Drug racketeer Lalit Patil’s escape is a sequel to the Mephedrone empire busted in 2020

The case found its way to the headlines again some days back when a key accused in the case, Lalit Anil Patil (34), escaped from Sassoon General Hospital in Pune. Patil, who was arrested by Pimpri Chinchwad police in this case in December 2020, had come to Sassoon Hospital earlier in June this year for his treatment from Yerawada Prison, where he has been lodged since the arrest. It also came to light that Patil had continued to operate his drugs cartel from the hospital ward using two high end iPhones.

How the cartel came together and functioned

Tushar Kale (42), a resident of Borivali, with alleged links to Chhota Rajan gang, lodged in Kolhapur prison, came in contact with the Nigerian national Zuby Odoka who was incarcerated in the same prison for a narcotics case. The two are alleged to have started putting together their team for the cartel. After their release on bail, they managed to get the entire process of manufacturing Mephedrone, from a narcotics racketeer from Mumbai prison, when he was brought for a court proceeding.

Another key accused in the case, Rakesh Khaniwadekar alias Rocky, wanted by several drug enforcement entities in India, then allegedly joined the racket. He helped Kale and others purchase a farmhouse where they synthesized Mephedrone for the first time. But with unsatisfactory quality of the product they decided to rope in a ‘master of the art’ identified as Arvindkumar Lohare, a postgraduate degree holder in organic chemistry, who was already facing charges of drugs manufacturing in a case registered in Nashik.

Lohare is alleged to have held multiple training sessions for the members of the cartel including some at a farmhouse in Karjat area in early 2019. The cartel initially synthesized their drugs at two closed chemical factories in an industrial cluster in Mahad taluka in Raigad district, where an estimated 60 to 70 kilograms of Mephedrone was manufactured. Later the cartel moved their manufacturing base to an ailing chemical factory in Ranjangaon industrial area. Here, with the help of some locals and people who used to work at this unit, a Mephedrone manufacturing line was set up and an estimated 132 kilograms of the drug was synthesised. Of these 112 kilograms were sold by the racket led by Kale and Khaniwadekar through Zuby.

It was the remaining 20 kilograms from this batch that was seized from five persons arrested by Pimpri Chinchwad police at Chakan on October 7, 2020 in their raid at Dhaba.

An FIR was registered in this case at the Chakan police station on October 8 against the five accused – Chetan Dandavate, Anandgir Gosavi, Akshay Shivaji Kale, Sanjivkumar Bansi Raut and Tausif Hasan Mohammed Taslim, under sections of the Indian Penal Code and Narcotics Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

During further investigation, within three months, police arrested 17 more persons including Kiran Kale, Ashok Sankpal, Kiran Rajguru, Kuldeep Indalkar, Zuber Mulla, Tushar Kale, Rakesh Mishra, the Nigerian national Zuby Udoka alias Francis, Kahnivadekar, Parshuram Jogal, Mandar Bhosale, Ram Manoharlal Gurwani, Lohare, Manoj Palande, Afzal Hussain Abbas Sansara, Lalit Patil and Sandesh Dusankar.

A police official said Patil had not only procured drugs from the racketeers in the past, but also received Rs 65 lakh from four of the suspects arrested in the case earlier to arrange lawyers for them, and to try and strike deals with officials. Police had seized a cash of Rs 25 lakh from Patil during his arrest on December 10, 2020.

Shishir Hiray, Special Public Prosecutor, in this case said, “The matter is pending before the court for framing of charges against the accused. We have been putting solid arguments in the court and hence none of the 22 accused in this case managed to secure bail in this case.“

Who is Lalit Patil? Commerce grad, political aspirant, legal fixer, drug racketeer or all of this?

As per police records, Lalit Patil, is a B.Com graduate, who completed his schooling at a Kendriya Vidyalaya in Nashik. He was for sometime active in a couple of political parties initially, including the Shivsena, as suggested by the images on a Facebook page in his name. He is also known to have contested the local civic polls in Nashik. Police said he is fond of a plush lifestyle and used costly luxury cars (SUVs).

Patil was previously booked in a case of dacoity lodged at the Niphad police station in Nashik in 2012, under sections 399, 402 of the Indian Penal Code. Police said Patil was more known for allegedly handling the finances between the persons arrested in narcotics cases and their lawyers. However, the Chakan Mephedrone case revealed his alleged involvement in the drug racket itself.

And a fresh case by Pune city police hints that Patil is a bigger player in the narcotics trade, such that he even managed to procure and supply Mephedrone, while undergoing treatment at the Sassoon hospital, where he was admitted for several months.

Pune city police arrested his aide Subhash Janaki Mandal (29) on September 30 from a spot near Sassoon Hospital with over 1.71-kg mephedrone worth Rs 2.14 crore. Probe revealed that Patil, who was under treatment at ward number 16 of the Sassoon hospital, allegedly supplied the contraband to Mandal through Rauf Rahim Shaikh (19), a worker at the hospital canteen. Police then seized two iPhones, each worth Rs 1.1 lakh, allegedly from Patil during a search at the hospital ward. An FIR was lodged against Patil, Mandal and Shaikh at Bundgarden police station under the NDPS Act.

While a probe was on in this case, Patil ‘escaped’ from the hospital when he was taken for an X-ray, around 7.40 pm on October 2, raising questions about his illness, treatment and the security arrangements at the hospital.

Sassoon Hospital sources said with a past medical history of tuberculosis, Patil was also being treated for ventral hernia and was obese, and was posted for surgery last week, but he fled. A few CCTV footage probed by the cops show Patil walking on the street and also entering a luxury hotel located nearby. A fresh FIR was lodged against Patil for escaping custody.

The current status of the case

While Patil escaped, all other accused in the Chakan case are currently lodged at Yerawada Central Jail. Shishir Hiray, Special Public Prosecutor, in this case said, “The matter is pending before the court for framing of charges against the accused. We have been putting solid arguments in the court and hence none of the 22 accused in this case managed to secure bail in this case. “

“Accused Patil who fled recently had filed a bail application before the Bombay high court. We are opposing it this week,” said Hiray.

Hiray has also filed an application before the special court in Khed seeking the entire medical record of Lalit Patil from Sasoon hospital and Yerwada jail. In his application, Hiray also sought investigation of authorities and medical officers from the Sassoon hospital and jail who are related to Lalit Patil’s medical records and treatment.

Hiray said, “As per the medical test conducted on Patil after his arrest in Chakan offence, he was fit. But soon after the court remanded him to police custody for 12 days, he got admitted to a hospital claiming medical issues due to a fall. He continued to be in hospital for all 12 days…Later, after being lodged in Yerwada jail, he reported medical problems from time to time and spent about 16 months in hospital…Now that he was being probed for procuring Mephedrone while undergoing treatment at the hospital, he simply escaped. This is doubtful and needs deep investigation,” said Hiray.

More action, more revelations

While a massive search operation for Lalit Patil is on, in a separate case the Mumbai police recently raided his brother Bhushan’s factory in Nashik, where mephedrone was allegedly being manufactured. Cops seized about 133 kilograms of Mephedrone worth Rs 300 crore from the factory. Bhushan is also on the run. Lalit Patil’s role in the factory is being probed.