Mumbai : Ending its 40-day long chase on Wednesday morning, the Mumbai police arrested woman drug lord Shashikala, alias Baby Patankar, from Panvel, along with her son and niece. The three were in a luxury bus which had come from Kudal in Konkan and was on its way to Mumbai.
The arrest was made by the Social Services branch of Mumbai police which is headed by Deputy Commissioner of Police Pravinkumar Patil; it had received a tip off that Patankar will be on the bus with her son Girish and a minor niece. A team was dispatched immediately to the spot and Patankar was apprehended at 6.30 am.
Patankar’s arrest is a crucial and significant development in the drug peddling case against disgraced head constable Dharma Kalokhe of Marine Drive police station who was arrested by the Satara police and then Mumbai police for allegedly possessing Mephedrone. After his arrest by the Satara police on March 9 — when 110-kg Mephedrone (also known as Meow Meow and MD) was found at his residence and also in his personal cupboard on March 10 at Marine Drive police station — investigations had revealed that he had been having an affair with Patankar since 1997.
Amidst a lot of scrutiny due to the involvement of a policeman, the investigation of the second seizure was given to the Marine Drive police station itself, despite a man who was one of their own being the accused. “The case was given to them as a challenge and in the belief that they will go after him more aggressively because he disgraced his police station. In addition, there are several logistical issues with registering the case with a different zone, which we wanted to avoid,” said Joint Commissioner of Police Atulchandra Kulkarni. After Patankar’s arrest, however, the case has been transferred to Crime Branch. This was done to ensure that the interrogation after the arrest takes place without any bias. “We also have a suspicion that more policemen might be involved in the case and want this angle to get investigated thoroughly,” said an officer from the Mumbai police.
Patankar has been reminded to police custody until April 28 and with the charges levelled against her, would be facing a jail term of at least 20 years under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act. A mobile phone was found with her, but it did not have a SIM card. His son has been detained, but has not been arrested yet. It has also been revealed that Patankar had been in Mumbai once during the past 40 days to meet her lawyer and apply for an anticipatory bail application, which however was never submitted. The involvement of three other policemen is also suspected in the case, the details of which are expected to come out during Patankar’s interrogation.
