E-Paper
Yerawada prison wrote 4 letters to hospital to send back drug haul accused
The prison officials wrote four letters to the hospital requesting his release, but only one letter received a response
Pune: The Yerawada Central Prison authorities had written four letters to the Sassoon General Hospital to send back undertrial prisoner Lalit Patil who escaped from the hospital premises on Monday.
The jail inmate’s slip from police presence has raised questions about his prolonged illness and stay at the hospital.
According to the state prison department officials, Patil was admitted to ward number 16 of Sassoon hospital for hernia treatment in June. The prison officials wrote four letters to the hospital requesting his release, but only one letter received a response.
A senior Yerawada prison official on condition of anonymity said, “We wrote letter to the hospital in June, August and two in September asking the hospital authorities to send Patil back and why it was taking so much time to treat him. They responded to our last letter issued on September 5 stating that ‘he needs to be operated for hernia and require more time for operation and post-operative care’.”
Patil was kept at the tuberculosis ward in prison, before being shifted to Sassoon hospital for hernia treatment.
“Patil was at the Sassoon hospital ward for tuberculosis and hernia treatment since past four months. His surgery was scheduled for Tuesday. He escaped from the hospital premises on Monday after pushing away a constable when medical staff took him for X-ray test,” said a police official.
Meanwhile, the anti-narcotics unit 2 of the Pune city police busted a drug racket by arresting two persons near Sassoon General Hospital in Pune on Sunday. The police seized 1.71 kg and 53 milligrams of mephedrone worth ₹2.14 crore in the market from their possession.
