Chaos over Shrimant Patil's 'kidnap'

The ruling coalition was in for a major shock on Thursday morning when Congress MLA Shrimant Patil mysteriously disappeared from the Congress flock camping at a resort on the outskirts of Bengaluru.

Even as the Legislative Assembly plunged into chaos over Kagawad MLA Patil’s ‘kidnapping’ as alleged by Congress leaders, the incident, according to sources, was straight out of a movie as he was airlifted to Mumbai in a brisk turn of events, keeping the leaders and intelligence sleuths completely in the dark.

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Surprisingly, by the time the Congress leaders realised that one of their colleagues was missing, Patil was undergoing treatment in a hospital at Mumbai and photographs of his treatment had gone viral on social media. Flummoxed by the ‘operation’, the leaders gathered “enough evidence to prove” that he was kidnapped by BJP leaders. The coalition leaders protested holding pictures of Patil undergoing treatment.

“Our legislator has been kidnapped by a BJP leader and was flown to Mumbai and hospitalised,” Water Resources Minister D K Shivakumar said, showing pictures of Patil being accompanied by former minister and BJP leader Lakshman Savadi.

Joining him, KPCC president Dinesh Gundu Rao said, “We were all together till dinner on Wednesday and thereafter, in a span of a few minutes, he went missing. If Patil was ailing from a serious problem, he could have visited a hospital nearby. But he was flown to Chennai and then to Mumbai for treatment. But in reality, he was perfect and healthy.”

Sources revealed that his ‘handlers’ were aware that the police could track their movement using mobile phones and brought Patil to Legislators’ Home where his mobiles were switched off before he left for Mumbai. There was buzz in political circles that the police were ordered to trace Patil before the House resumed business. A letter by Patil said, “I had come to Chennai on personal work and had chest pain. On the doctor’s advice, I came to Mumbai for treatment and will come back after I recover.”

Patil’s ‘kidnap’ led to a ruckus in the House with leaders calling on Speaker K R Ramesh Kumar to protect their MLAs. Kumar also expressed doubts over the authenticity of the documents that were sent to him by Patil about his health condition.

“The documents neither have a date nor do they mention any details of his ailments. It does not look natural to me. What kind of a Speaker would I be if I proceed with these documents?” Kumar stated. Pointing to Home Minister M B Patil, Kumar said, “Please contact Patil’s family and submit a detailed report by tomorrow. If the home minister cannot ensure protection, then I will have to talk to the police chief.”

As the issue snowballed into a major controversy, a complaint of abduction was filed at Vidhana Soudha police station and an FIR was lodged.