Gangster got bail from SC with fake medical reports

He claimed to be requiring treatment for cancer and his lawyer argued that he was too vulnerable during the ongoing pandemic to remain jailed but now Shivajinagar police found he’d tricked the court

In September, a gangster from the city managed to secure relief from the Supreme Court furnishing fake medical reports to claim he was undergoing treatment for cancer and was at risk in jail confines during the pandemic.However, a blatant public appearance gave him away and a close scrutiny of the documents he submitted to the apex court by the Shivajinagar police already taking stock of gangsters in the city released on bail, brought the shocking trickery to light.

Nilesh Baswant (35), a close aide of the notorious gangster Bapu Nayar and a member of the latter’s organised crime syndicate, has now been booked for cheating and forgery by the Shivajinagar police and efforts are on to present the facts to Supreme Court and have his bail cancelled.

As it happened, pursuant to the infamous gangster Ganjanan Marne exiting Taloja jail on a bail, with a pompous rally all the way to Pune, earlier this month, the police started examining the cases of all gangsters who’d been granted bail. The exercise brought them to Nilesh Baswant’s case, wherein medical grounds were deployed to get bail.


Senior police inspector Vinayak Gaikwad of the anti-narcotics cell was assigned by assistant police commissioner (ACP) Surendra Deshmukh to investigate the documents Baswant had submitted. The medical reports, it was found, were procured from a doctor in Satara. “We cross-checked the reports with the doctor whose letterhead was used by Baswant, but he told us that he did not issue the same. We are investigating how he obtained the reports and who helped him in the matter. We will submit a detailed report to the Supreme Court and make an application for cancellation of his bail as he’d misled the court,” recounted ACP Deshmukh.

Remarkably, in the first week of February, Baswant was spotted roaming the premises of Pune Municipal Corporation with a big battalion of associates. His mother was appointed to the women’s cell of Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) and the gangster was present on the occasion. Subsequently, his supporters also posted videos of the event on social media, using the NCP tag. Baswant and his gang were seen going around the civic body’s office without masks with complete impunity. They also held a rally in the city and posted those videos too on social media platforms. The crime branch is now investigating these episodes.

The Bapu Nayar gang has been slapped with charges of the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) with Nayar himself having a record of 15 serious crimes, including murder, attempt to murder, robbery and dacoity registered against him. Baswant is also a history sheeter with as many as seven serious crimes filed against his name at Sahakar Nagar, Hinjawadi and Kondhwa police stations. He was arrested and jailed along with Nayar for threatening a family in Kondhwa and evicting them from their property.

An FIR was filed with the Kondhwa police in December 2015, against him, Nayar, Deepak Krishna Kadam and Amol Baswant, by 39-year-old Nilesh Botra, a resident of Parvati. According to the complaint, Botra’s wife and her sister owned a land at Kondhwa Budruk. The accused were trying to grab the land and Nayar had threatened the family. Baswant extorted Rs 6 lakh to allow them to remain on the property and also threatened to kill the complainant.

Based on the complaint filed by Botra, when the cops reached the spot, they are able to nab only Kadam, while Nayar, Baswant and the others gave them the slip. Acting on a tip-off received by police constable Amol Pawar attached with an anti-extortion cell, Nayar and Baswant were arrested from Delhi in August 2016 and since then were lodged in the Yerwada Central Prison. Baswant was released by the Supreme Court in April 2020 on medical grounds for the period of 45 days. He again moved to sessions court and sought bail for the cancer treatment but it rejected the plea in July 2020.

He then again appeared before the Supreme Court and submitted the forged medical reports. His lawyer argued, “Baswant is a cancer patient and in the given COVID-19 situation, it is a fit case to grant regular bail for his medical treatment.” The defence lawyer further alleged that there is delay in trial and he was behind bars for five years. “The case is not a one of bomb blast or murder but the amount involved is just Rs 6 lakh and therefore there was no need to keep accused behind bars,” the defence lawyer contested. On the basis of medical papers, the court granted bail to Baswant.

On Thursday, the Shivajinagar police booked Baswant under sections 420 (cheating), 465 (punishment for forgery), 468 (forgery for purpose of cheating), 471 (use fraudulently or dishonestly as genuine) and 198 (using as true, a certificate known to be false) of the Indian Penal Code and the crime branch is investigating the case.