Maharashtra govt forms committee to probe escape of Lalit Patil from Pune's Sassoon Hospital

The Maharashtra government has formed a four-member panel to investigate the escape of Lalit Patil, a drug case suspect, from Sassoon General Hospital.

According to reports, Dr. Dilip Mhaisekar, the director of the Directorate of Medical Education and Research, leads the committee. Other members include Dr. Sudhir Deshmukh, dean of the Government Medical College in Solapur, Dr. Hemant Godbole, a professor at Government Medical College in Nanded, and Dr. Eknath Pawar, a professor at Grant Medical College in Mumbai.

Mephedrone bust case

In the recent mephedrone case, police arrested an individual with contraband valued at Rs 2 crore outside Sassoon Hospital on September 30. Further investigation revealed a hospital canteen staff member's involvement, who disclosed that the contraband was supplied by Lalit Patil, an inmate at Yerwada Jail who was admitted to the hospital at the time. Patil, however, managed to escape from the hospital on October 2 while being taken for an X-ray, resulting in the suspension of nine police personnel.

The probe indicates that Patil, previously arrested in a drug case last year, was operating a drug racket from within the hospital. Recently, Pune police arrested Lalit Patil's brother, Bhushan Patil, and his associate, Abhishek Balkawade, at the Nepal border in Uttar Pradesh in connection with the mephedrone seizure case.