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Woman police officer suspended after drug kingpin’s escape from hospital
According to the suspension order, Savita Hanumant Bhagwat was present at the hospital only for 30 minutes during her morning shift. After she left ward number 16 where the drug haul accused was admitted, Patil met an unknown person and fled the facility
The police on Thursday suspended assistant inspector Savita Hanumant Bhagwat for dereliction of duty after drug kingpin Lalit Patil escaped from Sassoon General Hospital on October 2.
The police official was part of Pune police headquarters’ court company responsible for escorting undertrials undergoing treatment at the hospital.
Pune police commissioner Retesh Kumaarr and joint commissioner of police (law and order) Sandeep Karnik ordered the suspension.
According to the suspension order, Bhagwat was present at the hospital only for 30 minutes during her morning shift. After she left ward number 16 where the drug haul accused was admitted, Patil met an unknown person and fled the facility.
Earlier, nine cops had been suspended on charges of showing negligence while on duty which led to Patil’s escape.
On September 30, Bhagwat was assigned the official duty as supervisory officer for the day shift from 9 am to 9 pm. As per the responsibility, she was expected to conduct a thorough search of the detained accused admitted for treatment at the ward. An internal probe revealed that the assistant inspector left the hospital at 1:30 pm instead of being on duty till 9 pm. She was also found to have carried supervision of the ward for 30 minutes despite being on duty for the full day. The suspension order mentions that a person carrying a black bag visited the ward and met Patil and the woman officer’s laxity could have caused Patil to escape from police custody.
The top brass of the city police had earlier cited irresponsibility and misconduct on the part of cops on duty in handling the high-profile criminal Lalit Patil case and ordered suspension of sub-inspectors Janardhan Kale and Mohini Dongre, constables Vishal Thople, Swapneel Shinde, Digambar Chandanshiv, Adesh Shivankar, Pirappa Bansode and Amit Jadhav, and Police Naik Natharam Kale.
Patil was arrested in Chakan drug case in 2022 and lodged at Yerawada Central Jail and was admitted to Sassoon hospital for past three months. The police have arrested two of his women friends and educationist Vinay Aranha in connection with funding and assisting him in his escape.
