E-Paper
Pune cops get custody of Lalit Patil
A team of crime branch officials led by DCP (Crime) Amol Zende reached Mumbai and moved an application before the court seeking his custody from the Mumbai crime branch
The Pune Police have taken custody of drug kingpin Lalit Patil in connection with the NDPS (Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances) case lodged against him at Bund Garden Police Station.
A team of crime branch officials led by DCP (Crime) Amol Zende reached Mumbai and moved an application before the court seeking his custody from the Mumbai crime branch on Tuesday morning. The court later during the day ordered that Patil’s custody be given to the Pune Police and accordingly the crime branch sleuths took him into custody.
The crime branch left Mumbai at around 5.30 pm and brought him to the city around 10 pm.
Zende said, “Patil has been brought to Pune for investigation in the case from Arthur Road Jail.”
Patil through his lawyer Swapnil Wagh had moved an application before the court on Monday requesting that he must not be handed over to Pune Police citing that he was physically assaulted by the Pune police while he was admitted to Sassoon General Hospital.
The Andheri court had extended police custody of the notorious drug dealer along with driver Sachin Wagh and accused Harish Pant till October 30 in the drug case. According to the Pune police, Patil is allegedly the mastermind behind running the ₹300 crore mephedrone drug empire which was exposed by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police in 2020.
Patil was arrested in Chennai by Mumbai Police on October 17 following his escape from Sassoon Hospital on October 2. A Mumbai court first remanded him to Mumbai police custody for further probe and later remanded him in judicial custody and sent him to Arthur jail on expiry of the police custody.
Patil who was lodged at Yerawada Central Jail after his arrest in connection with the Chakan mephedrone seizure was admitted in the Sassoon hospital. He has been charged for suppling mephedrone worth ₹2.14 crore to his aide Subhash Mandal through a hospital canteen staffer on September 30 while he was admitted in ward number 16.
The police lodged an FIR against Patil, Mandal and the staffer under NDPS Act. Simultaneously, the Mumbai Police have investigated another case, raided a factory in Nashik and confiscated mephedrone worth ₹300 crore from the factory premises.
According to the police, the drug dealer’s brother Bhushan Patil was running the factory and industrial scale drug production factory was established as per the planning done in Yerawada jail by Lalit and co-accused Arvindkumar Lohare, a chemical expert arrested in the Chakan drug seizure case.
Lohare was rearrested for investigation. On October 11, the city police arrested Bhushan and his associate Abhishek Balkawade and took custody of Rehan Ansari from Taloja jail in Mumbai. Ansari is accused of transporting mephedrone from the Nashik drug factory. The police have also arrested Rosary Education Group director Vinay Aranha and Patil’s women friends – advocate Pradnya Kamble and Archana Nikam — for facilitating his escape.
