Mumbai: The Mumbai Police Crime Branch has arrested a Pune-based businessman in connection with a cheating case related to Shashikala Patankar, alias Baby Patankar. Patankar is accused of deceiving a customs clearing agent in south Mumbai, allegedly defrauding him of approximately Rs2 crore by promising to sell him 5 kilos of gold at discounted rates.
An official said that Parshuram Munde, who was an accused in the case, was served a notice under Section 41 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and asked to cooperate.
Munde was produced in court on Monday and remanded in judicial custody, the official said. Baby Patankar is the “drug queen” who introduced Mephedrone – popularly known as Meow Meow – to the city.
Patankar got interim relief from the Bombay High Court in the last week of October 2023. Earlier she was almost absconding for almost one-and-a-half months because the session court had rejected her interim protection anticipatory bail.
The Crime Branch had registered an FIR in the case on September 14. Patankar is accused of taking money from a businessman, Kirit Suresh Chavan, on the pretext of selling 5kg gold.
The businessman dealt in customs clearance work and wanted to diversify into gold. He was introduced to Patankar by one Parshuram Mundhe, who is a co-accused in the case.
