The special NDPS court here today granted bail to the alleged drug mafia Shashikala alias Baby Patankar who was arrested following the seizure of narcotic drug mephedrone from the cupboard of a Mumbai policeman.
“The court granted bail to Patankar,” said her lawyer N N Gawankar.
Advocate Gawankar had argued before the court that no drugs had been seized from his client’s possession and she was arrested on the basis of the statement of a co-accused, which is inadmissible as evidence.
“I also told the court that mephedrone was transported by her to a warehouse in 2014 when it was not a contraband (a banned substance),” Gawankar said.
Accepting the argument, special judge for Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act cases U B Hejib granted bail.
Patankar was arrested in April this year following the arrest of Constable Dharmaraj Kalokhe.
However, she will not walk out of the jail soon as there are two more cases pending against her, a crime branch official said.
Kalokhe, posted at Marine Drive police station here, was arrested on March 9 after 110 kg of mephedrone, the market value of which runs into crores of rupees according to the police, was seized from his residence in a village in Satara district.
The next day, 12 kg of mephedrone was seized from Kalokhe’s cupboard at Marine Drive police station. According to police, Kalokhe had links with Patankar for many years.
