Drug lord Lalit Patil, brother and aides charged under MCOCA

Bhushan Patil being transported by the Sakinaka police on Thursday

The Pune police have slapped charges under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) on drug lord Lalit Patil, his brother Bhushan and associate Abhishek Balkawade among others. The cops also seized 5 kg of gold from an undisclosed location in Nashik.

"Based on the history of all the accused, we decided to invoke MCOCA on them. Lalit Patil was taken to Nashik and we seized 5 kg of gold from there. The spot of recovery has been kept confidential as it can hamper further investigations," said a source from Pune police.

According to the Pune police remand copy, Patil is the kingpin and he instructed Bhushan and other co-accused to run the drug syndicate in the state. The Pune police will probe how the accused Shivaji Shinde provided raw material to run the Nashik-based ‘pharmaceutical' company.

Lalit Patil will be in Pune police custody till November 7

"When Shinde was in our custody had revealed that he worked for a chemical company for a brief period, after which he worked as a freelancer. He has complete knowledge about the chemicals used in making drugs and he had good contacts with the people who sold the raw materials," said a source from the Mumbai police.

According to the Pune police's remand copy, Bhushan and Balkawade had even sent "a perfect sample of MD drugs" to Patil in Sassoon hospital. When the drug lord approved the contraband, Bhushan and other associates sold it.

The remand copy further states that the Patil brothers had formatted their phones and the Pune police had sent their seized phones for a forensic analysis to access data. "We expect to get more leads when we have the data in our hands," said a source from the Pune police.

As per the remand copy, Patil had provided financial assistance to his female friend Pradnya Kamble. "He used to provide her money and then took it back from her whenever he needed it. Pradnya and Lalit were in contact with each other after he fled from the hospital," said a source from Pune police.

According to the police, the Patil brothers used different cars to transport drugs from one location to the other, in sealed plastic pouches that were delivered to the syndicate's customers in Mumbai, Pune and elsewhere in the state.

The Pune police and their Mumbai counterparts are currently probing the financial transactions of the Patil brothers and their other associates.

Rs 300cr
Approx value of MD Patil supplied to Mumbai while in hospital