Sena claims 2 NCP leaders seen in photos with man whose name cropped up in drug case probe

The ruling Shiv Sena in Maharashtra on Wednesday sought to link NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leaders Supriya Sule and Jitendra Awhad with a man, whose name it claimed has cropped up in a drug case probe, and shared photos purportedly of him and the two members of the opposition party.

Addressing a news conference here, Shiv Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande demanded that the two NCP (Sharad Pawar faction) leaders come clean on the matter.

Kayande said interrogation of a key accused in the drug case, Lalit Patil, who has been arrested by the police after he escaped from a Pune hospital, has thrown up new names and one of them is purportedly seen in the photos.

She alleged 54 gms mephedrone (MD) drug was recovered from the man whose name cropped up during investigation into the drug case.

"How have Supriya Sule and Jitendra Awhad, who make wild allegations against state ministers, clicked photograph with one of the accused (whose name came to light during drug case probe). The two must give a clarification," Kayande said.

The Shiv Sena spokesperson said it is the police's job to ascertain with whom the man was close to.

There was no immediate comment from the NCP (Sharad Pawar faction), Sule or Awhad on the Shiv Sena's claim.

The opposition has been targeting the Eknath Shinde government over Patil who escaped from a government hospital in Pune on October 2 and was arrested from near Bengaluru last week.

Patil (37) was held in a Rs 300-crore mephedrone bust outside Sassoon Hospital, where he was admitted and escaped while being taken for an X-ray.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)