₹2-crore cheating case: Sessions court refuses pre-arrest bail to Baby Patankar

Shashikala Patankar's anticipatory bail plea has been rejected in a cheating case where she and an accomplice allegedly cheated a Customs clearing agent of around ₹2 crore. Patankar, known as the drug queen who introduced Mephedrone to Mumbai, is now being searched for by the police.

MUMBAI: The session court on Saturday rejected the anticipatory bail plea of Shashikala Patankar aka Baby Patankar in connection with a cheating case registered against her and one of her accomplices, Parashuram Ramkishan Munde, for allegedly cheating a Customs clearing agent of around ₹2 crore on the promise of selling him 5 kg gold at cheaper rates.

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Police officials said the 62-year-old woman fled after additional sessions judge Rajesh Sasne rejected her pre-arrest bail plea and they are searching for her. Patankar, the drug queen who introduced Mephedrone – popularly known as Meow Meow – to Mumbai, had moved the sessions court after the Worli police registered the cheating case on September 14. The case was subsequently transferred to Unit 1 of the crime branch for investigation.

The case is based on the complaint lodged by Kirit Chavan, 61, a Cuffe Parade resident, who had submitted a written application a few months back to the crime branch, and after preliminary verification of facts, the case was registered.

In the FIR, Chavan, owner of the firm, Runicha Freight Forwards, a Customs clearing agency, said that he had planned to get into gold trading and had spread the word amongst his friends.

“One of his acquaintances, Dev Roy, a chemical engineer from Borivali, introduced Chavan to a woman, Sunita Chaudhary, who lives in Andheri. Chaudhary in turn introduced him to Munde, who identified himself to be a director in RRM Gold Trading Pvt Ltd. Mundhe also claimed that he buys gold in Customs auctions at a lot cheaper rates than the prevailing market price and offered Chauhan gold at a cheaper rate,” the officer said.

Munde, according to Chavan, called him on October 21, 2021, and introduced him to Patankar, claiming she had five kilograms of raw gold, and it was available for sale.

Chavan said Patankar showed him a total of 6.5 kg gold – five gold bars weighing 1 kg each and 15 gold biscuits, each weighing 100 grams – and he verified and found the gold to be genuine. Munde then gave the complainant two bills. The first bill of ₹1.31 crore was for three kilograms of gold and the second was ₹87.69 lakh for the remaining two kg gold.

Chauhan said as per their demand he transferred an amount of ₹1.27 crore to Munde through RTGS transfer on October 21, 2021, and soon thereafter went to Worli to collect the gold from Patankar. “The woman, however, told him that she had received only ₹1.15 crore and that she would part with the gold only after receiving full payment for the 5 kg gold, as was agreed between them,” the officer said. “As Munde insisted that he should arrange the balance funds in cash, the complainant arranged and paid ₹70 lakh to Patankar in cash on October 25, 2021.”

Patankar, Chavan said, took the bag containing the cash and left, apparently to bring the gold. She, however, did not turn for long and eventually, late in the evening of October 25, 2021, told him that she would hand him over the gold the next day in Zaveri Bazar.

Accordingly, on October 26, 2021, Chauhan, Munde, and others went to Zaveri Bazar and waited for Patankar to turn up with the gold. “She kept them hanging till 1.30pm and thereafter switched off her phone and became inaccessible. Suspecting some foul play, the complainant then checked the background of Patankar and realised that she had a criminal past,” the officer said.

Chavan pursued the matter with Munde for quite a few days, seeking either a refund or the gold, however, after the latter claimed that the woman had duped him, the complainant filed a written complaint with the crime branch.