Mumbai, Oct 20 (IANS): In a major revelation, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Friday said that the arrested drug don, Lalit Patil, was a Shiv Sena (UBT) leader who has never been interrogated in the narcotics case in which he was first nabbed in December 2020.

Speaking to mediapersons here, Fadnavis said that after his arrest in December 2020 he was sent on a 14-day police remand, and immediately admitted to the Sassoon Hospital, Pune.

“Thereafter, the government did not make any application pertaining to his health, or to put it up before a medical board. The result was that till today, Lalit Patil has not been interrogated or investigated in such a big drugs bust case,” said Fadnavis.

Since at the relevant time, Patil was the Nashik city president of the Shiv Sena (UBT), it raises questions whether the drug don was given the special treatment due to his political status, said Fadnavis.

“Was there pressure on the authorities not to interrogate him in this matter, whether the then Chief Minister (Uddhav Thackeray) or the then home minister were involved in this in any manner… These are the questions that arise now,” declared Fadnavis.

The Mumbai Police arrested Patil after busting two illegal factories manufacturing Mephedrone (MD) drug, and he remained in custody since then.

However, in a sensational development, he suddenly managed to ‘escape’ from Sassoon Hospital on October 2, was on the run in different states for 15 days, but was finally nabbed near Chennai, brought to Mumbai and is under police custody till October 23.

Fadnavis warned that he will be making some more revelations in this regard soon as the investigations are underway, and then “all those who make allegations against the government will have to shut up”.