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MUMBAI: Police inquiry into a gangster ’s escape episode has revealed that at least two of the 10 cops who were suspended for negligence had not only allowed him a “little privacy” with his wife in a hotel room but also allegedly accepted Rs 1 lakh from him for the favour.

Hanuman Patil (30) escaped from the hotel window even as cops kept vigil outside. J J Marg police took Patil’s custody from Taloja jail on Monday to probe how he had hatched the escape plan and who had assisted him in executing it.

Patil was arrested in 2013 for the kidnap and murder of a Cidco employee over a property dispute. He was booked under the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) 1999 and was lodged in Taloja jail. On February 11, he was brought for medical examination to J J Hospital where, on the pretext of picking up some medicines, he carried out his escape plan. The Navi Mumbai police escort team rushed to J J Marg police station and lodged a complaint.

Following the complaint, J J Marg police registered an escape case against Patil and the Navi Mumbai crime branch began a detailed inquiry. It was during the inquiry they learned that the police escort team had itself allegedly unwittingly aided and abetted the escape. Patil was arrested from Uttar Pradesh last month.

Sources said on the fateful day when Patil was brought to JJ Hospital around 1.30pm for medical examination, his wife Monali (29) paid him a visit. After the examination, Patil requested assistant police inspector Arvind Hadaal that he be allowed to visit a medical shop in the neighbourhood to buy some medicines. Hadaal asked two of his constables to escort him to the medical shop. “Investigations have revealed that the constables took Patil and his wife Monali in a taxi to Brightway Hotel at Maulana Shaukat Ali Road in Grant Road. They booked a first-floor room for three hours for Patil while Monali paid the money. It was around 3pm that Patil and his wife entered the room. While one constable stood outside the room, the other took position outside the hotel,” said an officer. After waiting for nearly two hours, the constables knocked on the door. When Monali opened the door, they were shocked to see that Patil had jumped out of the window. The two constables rushed to J J Hospital and allegedly spun a tale that Patil had escaped from the hospital.

The inquiry report states that Monali had given Rs 1 lakh as bribe to the policemen for the favour. “This is a very serious issue. We will not spare these policemen who have indulged in the malpractice. We will see to it that they are booked and face stern departmental action,” added the officer.

