Two cops held in Lalit Patil escape case

Two staff from the Pune city police department have been arrested for criminal negligence in the case of a drug dealer's escape from Sassoon General Hospital. The two personnel were among nine cops who were suspended after the escape. The drug dealer, Lalit Patil, was re-arrested a few days later.

Pune: Two staff of Pune city police department, already facing suspension, were arrested on Friday in drug dealer Lalit Patil escape case. The arrests were made on charges of criminal negligence while discharging their duty at the Sassoon General Hospital on October 2 when Patil escaped before being re-arrested after a few days.

HT Image

The arrested personnel have been identified as Natharam Bharat Kale who was working as a police naik and constable Amit Auresh Jadhav. The duo was deputed at Sassoon hospital’s ward number 16 where Patil was undergoing treatment for tuberculosis and hernia treatment.

A senior police official said, “On Friday, two police staffers were arrested by the crime branch unit 2 under charges of criminal negligence while discharging their duty at the Sassoon hospital,” adding that the arrested duo was among the nine cops suspended after the escape of Patil from the hospital.

Kale and Jadhav were arrested under Section 223 (escape from confinement or custody negligently suffered by public servant) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).

Patil, an undertrial accused of supplying banned substances and part of a drug racket, escaped from Sassoon Hospital on October 2. Patil was admitted at ward number 16 of the hospital for four months before he gave the security cover a slip.

Pune city police had suspended nine police personnel, including assistant police inspector Ramesh Janardan Kale, sub-inspector Mohini Dongre, head constable Adesh Sitaram Shivankar, constables Vishal Baburao Topale, Swapnil Chintaman Shinde, Digambar Vijay Chandanshiv, Navnath Bharat Kale, Pirappa Dattu Bansode, Amit Auresh Jadhav and police naik Natharam Bharat Kale. A preliminary inquiry found that the cops were negligent while discharging duty.

The anti-narcotics unit 2 of the Pune city police busted a drug racket by arresting two persons near Sassoon Hospital. The police seized 1.71 kg and 53 milligrams of mephedrone worth ₹2.14 crore in the market from their possession.

According to the police, Patil, the prime accused admitted at Sassoon Hospital, had given the drugs to Subhash Mandal via accused Rauf Sheikh who was working at the hospital’s canteen.

The Pimpri-Chinchwad police in October 2020 busted a drug racket in Chakan by arresting 21 people involved in the production and sale of MD weighing at least 150 kg. The arrested included Patil who was lodged at Yerawada jail. Mandal was Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) accused in a robbery case registered at Rajgad Police Station in 2017.