Cops seize gold bricks from kin of drug undertrial’s aide

A city crime branch team in Pune has seized three 1kg gold bricks, worth Rs1.8 crore, from the Nashik home of Abhishek Balkawade, a close aide of fugitive drug haul undertrial Lalit Patil. Balkawade had delivered a mephedrone parcel worth Rs2.14 crore to Patil at a hospital, where Patil was undergoing treatment. Balkawade had purchased the gold bricks using the money he received for the drug delivery. The police are questioning the jeweller and Balkawade’s in-laws for concealing the gold. The investigation is ongoing.