THE BABY’S RICHES

Police say Shashikala Patankar alias Baby has amassed spectacular wealth through the narcotics trade.From a milk vendor who earned a few hundred rupees a month in the 1980s, to the alleged queen of a flourishing drug empire, Shashikala Patankar alias Baby’s rags-to-riches story is straight out of a Bollywood crime thriller.The police have cited the wealth amassed by Patankar over a period of 30 years to oppose her bail and establish that she is firmly entrenched in the narcotics business. According to police, Patankar, 54, owns 22 properties in Mumbai and Pune, and has Rs 1.2 crore in fixed deposits.The list of her properties revealed a spectacular acquisition of wealth. The police said that she owns as many as nine flats in Worli, where an average price of a one-BHK apartment is close to Rs 2 crore, besides a total of six apartments in Mahim, Thane (W), and Palghar.The cops further said that Patankar owns two houses in Borivali, of which one is a two-storey building given on rent, a nine-acre bungalow in Pune’s Mavad area, two plots, measuring 4.5 acres and 1,000 sq ft, and, believe-it-or-not, a shanty, all in Pune.Patankar was arrested in April, after the seizure of over a 100 kg of mephedrone was found from the house of her alleged partner, head constable Dharmaraj Kalokhe from the Marine Drive Police Station.Kalokhe was arrested on March 9 and dismissed from service. Despite the police listing Patankar’s properties before the court, her lawyer, MN Gawankar, said that the cops have no evidence to keep her in jail.Insisting that Patankar was too small a fry to tamper with evidence or influence the witnesses, Gawankar told special judge UB Hejib that his client, who was a “grandmother and a family woman”, would never attempt to escape.Rejecting that her wealth was earned through narcotics trade, the defence lawyer said, “She wanted to start a tourism business from Palghar. She is a tax-payer, and this list of properties is an income-tax matter… it doesn’t connect with the alleged crime.” Patankar’s lawyer told the court that she wasn’t found with drugs at the time of her arrest, and evidence against based merely on the statements of the other accused.The defence pointed out that in any case, the alleged mephedrone found in possession of Kalokhe turned out to be monosodium glutamate (Ajinomoto).Assistant public prosecutor Usha Jadhav argued that Patankar had absconded after Kalokhe’s arrest on March 9, and the cops were yet to recover her passport.“She might just escape out of the country because we haven’t found her passport and she hasn’t cooperated with investigation,” Jadhav told the court.♦ Nine flats in Worli♦ A total of six apartments in Mahim, Thane (W) and Palghar♦ Two houses in Borivali, including a two-storey building♦ A nine-acre bungalow in Pune’s Mavad area♦ Two plots, measuring 4.5 acres and 1,000 sq ft, and, a shanty, all in Pune♦ Fixed deposits worth Rs 1.2 crore