Drug haul case: Rosary Group head held for funding Patil’s escape
Pune city police have arrested educationist Vinay Aranha from Taloja Jail on charges of aiding and abetting drug kingpin Lalit Patil’s escape from Sassoon General Hospital
Pune: In the drug kingpin Lalit Patil case, the Pune city police have arrested educationist Vinay Aranha from Taloja Jail on charges of aiding and abetting Patil’s escape from Sassoon General Hospital. Aranha, chairman of Rosary Education Group headquartered in Pune, is probed for his role in providing help to Patil while he was admitted in the hospital.
The police had moved an application before a Pune court seeking custody of Aranha in connection with its expanding probe to which the court agreed. A crime branch team took Aranha’s custody from the central jail on Wednesday.
Ramnath Pokale, additional commissioner of police (crime), said, “We had moved an application before the court seeking transfer of Aranha to Pune for investigation. Subsequently, he has been arrested and will be produced before the court tomorrow (Thursday). His driver Datta Doke gave Patil ₹10,000 at the directions of Aranha and also drove him in a vehicle that enabled him escape.”
According to the investigators, Patil went to a five star hotel and later to Somwar Peth where Doke gave him money. Patil used the money to travel to Mumbai and later Nasik. Patil and Aranha came to know each other while they were admitted into the prisoner ward number 16 at the Sassoon hospital. Aranha was arrested by the Enforcement Directorate in connection with a ₹46 bank loan fraud case and since then has been lodged at Taloja jail. The police have already arrested Doke in connection with the escape case.