Pune court remands Lalit Patil, aides in 7 days police custody

15 people are accused of helping Patil escape from a hospital

The Pune court has remanded drug lord Lalit Patil and his aides Rohit Chaudhary and Shivaji Shinde to police custody till November 7. "We have registered two separate FIRs - one is about the drug syndicate which Lalit Patil ran while inside Sassoon hospital and the other concerns how he fled from there," said a source from Pune police.

According to the police, they have arrested 11 people and are in search of four others who helped Patil to run his drug business from inside Sasson hospital. The police had also recovered some drugs near the gate of the hospital. "We want to interrogate all the 11 accused face to face and hence we seek 14 days custody," the Pune police said in court, asserting that Bhushan had revealed his brother Lalit Patil's name during interrogation. The Pune court granted seven days of police custody after hearing the argument.

According to the Pune police, Lalit Patil is the kingpin of the drug nexus. He instructed Bhushan and his associate Abhishek Balkwade to establish a drug company in Nashik, while Rehan Ansari supplied the contraband to various parts of the state. "Arvindkumar Lahore had shared the formula to make MD with Harish Pant and Bhushan, and hence they could establish such a big manufacturing unit," the police said.

The police also said that Patil had purchased some gold and silver from Nashik-based jeweller Abhijit Dusane and they suspect that he purchased the items using the money he earned through his drug syndicate.

Speaking with mid-day, a source from Pune police said, "Pradnya Kamble and Archana Nikam provided him with financial assistance after he escaped from the hospital, while Vinay Arhana was one of the people who helped him escape. They have been arrested." Meanwhile, a team from Yerwada jail took custody of Bhushan Patil and Abhishek Balkwade who are in Mumbai police custody. The duo will be produced in court tomorrow morning.