Social worker from Konkan helped cops nab drug queen

MUMBAI: Several teams from the Marine Drive police as well as crime branch had fanned out in various parts of the state in search of absconding Sashikala Patankar alias Baby, the drug dealer, but the tip off came from a small social worker from Kudal district which actually led crime branch to arrest her on Wednesday.
On late Tuesday night police constable CA Ghag attached to social service branch who was on way along with his senior officers to raid a beer bar in South Mumbai, when a social worker from Kudal district called him to inform that a drug peddler whom the entire force was looking for, was in Kudal boarding a luxury bus.Interestingly Ghag knew the social worker as latter often used to held dharnas at Azad Maidan ground and Ghag was than mill constable who used to handle dharnas at the ground.
Soon Ghag intimated his senior inspector Shirish Sawant who in turn informed joint commissioner of police Atul Kulkarni and police commissioner Rakesh Maria. Maria asked the team to cultivate on the source and work. Immediately police send a team comprising of five policemen including Ghag and his colleague Ganpat Chityalkar.
The social worker told Ghag the bus was heading towards Mumbai and Patankar was along with three persons. ``On early Wednesday morning We trail the bus from Panvel and finally cornered the bus near Vashinaka and to our shock Patankar was sitting right behind the driver’s seat.’’said a source. No sooner did police asked her to come along, her son Girish and foster daughter along with a minor got off and tried to intervene. Police team informed that they have arrested Patankar and brought to Mumbai. Sources said Maria is likely to felicitate Ghag.
Meanwhile police are now legally examining whether they can attached Patankar’s immovable assets which she is believed to have amassed from the drug peddling. Investigation states that Patankar owns ten houses in a chawl in Siddhart nagar in Worli, a bungalow in Lonavala, flats in Borivli and Gorphode district. During the investigations it also transpired that in front she ran a transport business and interestingly two of her three cars-Manza and Innova were rented out to Income Department on contract basis.
Police are also likely to decide whether his elder son Girish had any role to play in the drug business. Satara police have already arrested her younger son Satish who used to ferry contraband on behalf of her from source to bungalow in Lonavala said dcp Dhananjay Kulkarni.
Police said that during the preliminary interrogations Patankar hasnot told much but is trying to misled to cops by saying that contraband was of dismissed constable Dharamraj Kalokhe. Kalokhe had told that it was Patankar’s contraband. Police are also planning to conduct scientific test on Patankar to get to the bottom of the case.
Reliable sources said that the raid on Kalokhe’s house in Satara was a fallout of a fight and ego problem between Patankar and Kalokhe. Their physical as well peddling reached a saturated point where both developed ego problems and Kalokhe started dominating her after which Patankar tipped off Kalokhe having stored the contraband in his native place in Satara.
Kalokhe, posted at Marine Drive police station, was arrested on 9 March after 110 kg of mephedrone drug, whose market value runs into crores of rupees was seized from his residence in a village under Khandala taluka in Satara district. The next day, 12 kg of mephedrone, was seized from Kalokhe's locked cupboard at the Marine Drive police station, along with Rs 30,000 cash, liquor bottles and foreign currency.