‘Drug kingpin’s arrest will reveal big nexus in Maharashtra,’ claims Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minsiter Devendra Fadnavis claims arrest of drug kingpin Lalit Patil by the Mumbai police will reveal “big nexus” in State. Patil's arrest will lead to expose of drug racket. Opposition alleges hand of two cabinet ministers in facilitating Patil's escape. Maharashtra Congress chief demands probe to uncover mastermind behind Patil's operation.

The arrest of city-based drug kingpin Lalit Patil by the Mumbai police will reveal “a big nexus” in the State, claimed Maharashtra Home Minister and Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday.

Patil had escaped on October 2 from Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital where he was reportedly undergoing treatment for tuberculosis.

The Mumbai police finally nabbed Patil, the prime mover behind the multi-crore mephedrone racket busted by the Pimpri-Chinchwad police in 2020, from Chennai late Tuesday night.

He was also prime suspect in the mephedrone production racket in Nashik, where a factory had been recently raided by the police.

Speaking in Pune on Wednesday, Mr. Fadnavis said that the State government has taken a resolution for a drug-free Maharashtra and that Patil’s arrest would lead to a big expose of the drug racket in the State.

“At the last crime control conference, we had directed all units to crackdown on the drug mafia in a big way. Accordingly, the Mumbai police raided the Nashik factory along with raids in other places. Now that Lalit Patil has been nabbed, a big nexus will be revealed,”

In a thinly veiled warning to the Opposition, Mr. Fadnavis said he had been briefed by the authorities on things which he could not reveal at the present moment, but would do so at an appropriate time.