Pune, Maharashtra: In a recent development, Vinay Aranha, a partner in the Rosary Education Group, was granted bail by the district court on Monday in connection with the case involving the escape of drug kingpin Lalit Patil from Sassoon General Hospital on October 2, 2023. However, Aranha, currently held in Taloja prison, may not taste freedom immediately as he remains in judicial custody in an Enforcement Directorate (ED) case related to a Rs20 crore bank loan fraud.
The escape incident took place while both Lalit Patil and Vinay Aranha were receiving treatment in the prisoners’ ward at Sassoon hospital. Lalit Patil, arrested in a significant Rs20 crore mephedrone (MD) drug haul at Chakan in October 2020, managed to escape, leading to investigations into the circumstances surrounding the incident.
Bhagyashree Sortur, Aranha’s lawyer, explained, “The court granted bail to Aranha considering that the Pune crime branch completed investigations and filed a chargesheet on December 4, 2023, against him and five others in the case before a magisterial court.”
Sortur further clarified, “The bail is contingent on Aranha providing a personal bond of Rs1 lakh with surety bonds of the same amount. The court has also prohibited our client from influencing prosecution witnesses, and we are committed to complying with these bail conditions.”
It’s noteworthy that Aranha’s initial bail application was rejected by the court during the ongoing police investigation into the escape case. Following the escape incident, Aranha, currently under judicial custody of a PMLA court in Mumbai for the ED case, was transferred back to Taloja prison after a comprehensive review of all undertrials and convicts undergoing treatment at Sassoon hospital.
