The police widened the net in their probe into the Lalit Patil drug case, with Pune police arresting two female accomplices of Patil, as a slanging match erupted on October 19 between the ruling Eknath Shinde-led Shiv Sena and the Opposition Uddhav Thackeray-led Sena (UBT) over the case.
The Pune police nabbed two women from Nashik late Wednesday night. They were produced before a local court here which remanded them to police custody till October 23.
Meanwhile, Sena (UBT) spokesperson Sushma Andhare has accused Shinde camp Ministers Shambhuraj Desai, who holds the Excise portfolio, and Dada Bhuse of having links with drug kingpin Patil.
Speaking in Nagpur, Ms. Andhare claimed that Mr. Desai had allegedly threatened her and demanded an apology for accusing him of having links with Lalit Patil.
“I have no personal enmity with Shambhuraj Desai. But I will ask questions if there is a matter pertaining to the State Excise Department, which is Mr. Desai’s charge. I say this department is a complete failure for not having been able to stop the proliferation of drugs. There is no question of apologising,” Ms. Andhare said.
Patil had escaped on October 2 from Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital where he was reportedly undergoing treatment for tuberculosis.
Ms. Andhare said it was shocking that drugs worth crores were found near the Sassoon Hospital. Sena (UBT) leaders have demanded a narco-test be conducted on the two Ministers as well as the dean of Sassoon Hospital.
The Sena vs Sena fight over the Lalit Patil issue has become fiercer after an undated photo showing Uddhav Thackeray ‘inducting’ Patil into the fold of the then undivided Shiv Sena by tying a shiv bandhan (saffron band) on Mr. Patil’s wrist went viral.
However, also present in this photo is Mr. Bhuse, whom the Sena (UBT) has accused of being the person who brought the drug kingpin into the Sena fold in the first place.
Meanwhile, both Mr. Desai and Mr. Bhuse have rubbished Ms. Andhare’s suggestions, with Mr. Bhuse stating that she should not be making “irresponsible” statements in public. Mr. Bhuse has said he was prepared to face any probe.
The Mumbai police had finally nabbed Patil - the prime mover behind the multi-crore mephedrone racket busted by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police in 2020 - late Tuesday night.
On Wednesday, Maharashtra Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had claimed that Patil’s arrest would reveal “a big nexus” in the State.
