Kingpin of drug racket: Lalit Patil fled to avoid an extended jail term

Along with Patil, Pune police have on Tuesday night also taken custody of two more drugs alleged racketeers Shivaji Shinde and Rohitkumar Chowdhary alias Rahul Pandit. The two were also remanded to Pune police’s custody till November 7 by the court on Wednesday.

After escaping from the Sassoon hospital on October 2, Patil was arrested by Mumbai police on October 17 from a village near Bangalore. A court in Mumbai had remanded Patil to the custody of Mumbai police for further investigation. After he was remanded to judicial custody and was lodged in Arthur Road prison in Mumbai, Pune city police had initiated the procedure to take his custody from Mumbai jail and arrest him in connection with the drug seizure case in Pune.

Shinde and Chowdhary were arrested along with Patil in the same Mephedrone production and smuggling case lodged at Sakinaka police station in Mumbai and they too were lodged in Arthur Road Prison in Mumbai. Patil was among the 22 people arrested in the Chakan mephedrone seizure of 2020 and was lodged in Yerawada jail since then, but often managed to get himself admitted at Sassoon hospital for treatment. Probe revealed that Patil, while being admitted at ward number 16 of Sassoon hospital, allegedly supplied mephedrone worth Rs 2.14 crore to his aide Subhash Mandal through a hospital canteen staffer on September 30. An FIR was lodged against Lalit, Mandal and the canteen staffer under NDPS Act. While a probe into this case was on, Lalit escaped from the hospital on October 2. A separate offence was lodged against Lalit for escaping custody. He was arrested on October 17.

A senior police officer who is part of the investigation told Express on the condition of anonymity, “Lalit had been not able to secure bail in the 2020 mephedrone case in spite of exhausting all legal options. After he was named as accused in the latest investigation by Pune City, he had realised that he would not be able to come out of prison for at least eight to 10 more years. This was the primary reason he escaped custody from the hospital.”

During the hearing on Wednesday for the custodial remand for Patil, Shinde and Chawdhary, Patil’s lawyer Adv Sandeep Bali told the court, “While taking instruction from my client, he has categorically mentioned that there is threat to life.” When the court asked him, “From whom?” the lawyer replied, “From authorities. Therefore the court has to take care of safety and security.”

Following Advocate Bali’s arguments, investigation officer of the case Assistant Commissioner of Police Sunil Tambe made a submission in this regard to the court, “The threat perception as submitted by the defence counsel, is a threat perception by the accused. There is no other report from any government agency or authority that substantiates this.”

While passing an order following arguments from prosecution and defence lawyers, the court also remarked on the issue saying, “Verbal allegations and apprehensions without substance are of no use.”

In October, the Mumbai police had raided a factory in Nashik and seized mephedrone worth Rs 300 crore from the spot. Police said Lalit’s brother Bhushan Patil was running the factory. Investigation had also revealed that the factory was set as per the planning done in Yerawada jail by Lalit and co-accused Arvindkumar Lohare, a chemical expert held in the Chakan drug seizure case. Lohare was again arrested by Pune police for investigation into the latest drugs seizure. Role of Shinde and Chowdhary is being investigated in providing raw materials to this factory and working on the formula for manufacturing the Mephedrone.

On October 11, Pune City police had arrested Bhushan Patil and aide Abhishek Balkawade. Pune police also took custody of Rehan Ansari alias Golu from Taloja jail in Mumbai. Police said Ansari allegedly transported mephedrone from the factory in Nashik.

Pune police further arrested Bhushan and Balkawade along with Vinay Aranha (50), a partner in Pune’s Rosary Education Group and lawyer Pradnya Kamble for their alleged role in Lalit’s escape from the hospital. Police also probed Kamble’s role in a drug racket allegedly operated by Lalit. A court in Pune had on Monday remanded Bhushan, Balkawade, Kamble, Lohare, Ansari and Aranha to magisterial custody in the Yerawada jail.