Pune:

Days after the Porsche car crash case that has sent shockwaves across the country, retired IAS officer Arun Bhatia has written a letter to the Chairman of Maharashtra Human Rights Commission (MHRC) seeking the transfer of Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar from the city.

Mr Bhatia has also requested the human rights body to investigate the conduct of Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar since he “represents the police force in the city”.

The appointment of the doctor as Chief Medical Officer based on a politician’s recommendation should be investigated and the Health Secretary punished, Bhatia stated in the letter.

Mr Bhatia has also asked for a report from the police regarding the step-by-step sequence of events and reasons for delay and lapses in the investigation process which must be obtained and brought into the public domain immediately.

“The present Police Commissioner cannot be relied upon to do this,” he mentioned.

The retired civil servant accused the Police Commissioner of shielding the crime and his corrupt officials.

“He refused to explain the delays and lapses. A reporter asking questions was pushed away by a police officer as seen on television. The media reported that the Police Commissioner had said that there was no political pressure to save the doctors and later contradicted this. Two politicians had turned up at the police station,” Mr Bhatia added.

To cap this scandal the court released on bail the seventeen-year-old who had emerged from a pub to take the wheel instead of placing him in a remand home, he said.

Mr Bhatia requested that the Human Rights Commission take special note of the fact that unless senior officials are held accountable for the misdeeds of their subordinates, government departments will not improve.

Requesting transparency in the Pune car crash case, Mr Bhatia said that at present, information about the case is available only from the media. “The Police Commissioner must give this information. In no way will it hamper the investigation,” he said.

Mr Bhatia stressed that it is essential that crime detection and investigation agencies are kept clean, efficient, and free from corruption. “The H R Commission must ensure this,” he added.

The retired civil servant said that the Human Rights Commission has to enforce the implementation of the laws that protect our lives and freedom. “When these laws and procedures are violated the HR Commission must take corrective steps,” he added.

Mr Bhatia has also penned a letter to Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar saying that “citizens” want him to leave the city.

“We will be demanding an investigation into your conduct and other officers. Your presence will compromise this investigation. If you are innocent and have nothing to hide you must go on leave and allow the proper investigation,” he said in the letter.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Mumbai:

A retired customs commissioner has alleged that Dr Ajay Taware, arrested in the Porsche crash case in Pune, had manipulated the gender test report of the former’s daughter-in-law in a marital dispute five years ago.

Dr Taware, head of the department of forensic medicine at Sassoon General Hospital, and two others were arrested earlier this week for allegedly swapping the blood samples of the minor accused of crashing a Porsche into a motorbike in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar and killing two persons.

Talking to PTI on Thursday, the retired official claimed that the doctor had played a role in fudging the gender test report of his estranged daughter-in-law.

He filed a complaint against Taware and others with the Medical Council of India as well as the Chief Secretary of Maharashtra but no action was taken, he said.

The customs official’s son got married in 2013, but his daughter-in-law refused to have sexual relations with her husband, he said.

When he checked her medical history and birth certificate at Aurangabad (now Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar), her birthplace, the official found that she was born a male in 1984. After ten years, the municipal corporation issued a new birth certificate mentioning her gender as female.

The daughter-in-law filed a case of dowry harassment against the family and the matter landed in a court in Andheri here.

In 2018, the court ordered a gender test of the woman. It was conducted at Sassoon Hospital in Pune, and a medical panel which included Dr Taware gave a report in February 2019 that she was “phenotypically and genotypically female”, the official said.

The test should have been conducted in Aurangabad, not in Pune, and Dr Taware manipulated the report, he claimed.

“If the car crash case gets transferred to the Central Bureau of Investigation, I will submit all the evidence against Dr Taware and others,” the former commissioner said.

Notably, in 2022, the Maharashtra government had suspended the regional organ transplant authorization committee at Pune of which Dr Taware was a member, after a racket related to kidney transplant approvals came to light.

Dr Taware is currently in the custody of Pune police.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pune:

The Pune crash, where two techies were killed after being hit by a Porsche, has gripped the entire nation with the police investigation unveiling a new twist every day. Pune Police today revealed that the family of the 17-year-old who was allegedly driving the car made efforts to pin the blame on a driver.

Two engineers — Ashwini Kostha and Anish Awadhiya — were on the bike when the Porsche, being driven at 200 km per hour, hit their bike from behind. The two died on the spot. Police have said the 17-year-old accused, son of a prominent Pune realtor, was heavily drunk at the time of the accident.

Minutes after the accident, the teen’s father called the driver and offered him a reward in lieu of a cash reward. They asked the driver to switch places with the boy and tell the police that he was driving the car.

When the driver turned down the offer, they tried to threaten him into accepting that he was behind the wheel when the accident took place, police said.

“The teen’s family driver was offered allurements and later threatened to take the blame for the Porsche crash,” Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said in a press conference today.

The driver has filed a police complaint where he also claims that the teen’s grandfather locked him up and did not allow him to go home for two days. Police have registered a kidnapping case and arrested the grandfather.

“The teen’s grandfather and father allegedly took the driver’s phone and put him in confinement in his house on the premises of their bungalow from May 19 to May 20. The driver was freed by his wife,” said an official from the crime branch, which is probing the case.

Cops said that they have CCTV footage and other evidence to prove that the teen, who was drunk, was driving the Porsche. The boy had gone out to celebrate with his friends after passing his Class 12 board exams.  

After partying at a posh Pune club, where they ran up a bill of Rs 48,000, the boy fought with the driver for the keys of the car. The driver initially resisted, but allowed the teen to drive after a call with the boy’s father.

Driving at 200 kmph, the teen crashed into a bike killing two 24-year-old software engineers from Madhya Pradesh. He was taken into custody by police at 3 am, and granted bail within 15 hours on the conditions seen as flimsy. He was asked to write a 300-word essay on road accidents, told to work with traffic cops for 15 days, and seek counselling for his drinking habit.

But the Juvenile Justice Board later modified the order and sent him to a remand home till June 5. The police have requested the board permission to try the teen as an adult.

The case has sparked outrage across the nation with several protests being held seeking swift justice.

Jabalpur:

Parents of two software engineers killed in a car accident in Pune demanded on Friday that the Supreme Court should monitor the probe and trial in the case.

The families have also demanded that the trial in the case should be held in Madhya Pradesh, where the victims hailed from, and not in Maharashtra.

Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both 24-year-old IT professionals hailing from Madhya Pradesh, died on May 19 after a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy, hit their motorcycle in Pune city.

Ashwini hailed from Jabalpur, while Anish belonged to Birsinghpur Pali in Umaria district.

Talking to PTI, Ashwini’s father, Suresh Kumar Koshta, said, “The Supreme Court should monitor the investigation and trial in the case to ensure that we get justice.” The accused should be tried as an adult and not as a minor, considering the serious nature of the crime, he said.

Koshta further alleged that the accused was in an inebriated condition when he ran his car over his daughter and Anish.

Following the accident, the teenager was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board, which granted him bail while asking him to write a 300-word essay.

After an outcry over quick bail and the police’s review plea, the JJB on Wednesday remanded the teen, son of real estate developer Vishal Agarwal, to the observation home till June 5.

The police have also arrested the teenager’s father.

“I am going to fight for justice till my last breath,” Anish’s father, Om Prakash Awadhiya, said over the phone.

The trial in the case should be held in Madhya Pradesh and not in Pune to ensure justice for the families, he said.

He alleged that the accused was given VIP treatment in the police station even though he had no driving licence.

The accident should be treated as a double murder, Awadhiya said. 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pune:

The Pune teen who ran over two techies with a speeding Porsche was given the car keys and a credit card by his grandfather that night, investigations have revealed. Questioned by the police, the grandfather yesterday said he hadn’t realised the consequences of his decision to allow the minor to drive.

Pune Police have constructed a sequence of events of the fateful night when the Porsche crashed into a bike, killing two 24-year-old techies. The 17-year-old teen driver’s grandfather and driver were questioned on Thursday.

The boy, the son of a prominent real estate developer, had gone out with two of his friends to celebrate their Class 12 board exam results, the police said.

Trusting his grandson, the boy’s grandfather handed over the car keys to the minor and provided him with a credit card to cover the party expenses. During interrogation, the grandfather expressed his regret and said  he had no inkling of the impending tragedy, sources said.

The minor drove his family’s Porsche from their bungalow in Vadgaon Sherry to Koji Pub and later to Block Club. Accompanying him were the family’s driver and other staff members, who followed in a separate car.

At the pub, the boy and his friends allegedly ran up a bill of Rs 48,000. Witnesses report that the teen appeared drunk when he emerged from the Block Club. Despite his condition, the boy insisted on driving the Porsche. The driver, adhering to safety concerns, took the car out of the parking lot but called the boy’s father at the minor’s insistence.

The father, now arrested, allegedly instructed the driver to let his son drive and sit next to him in the car. The driver complied, sitting in the passenger seat, while two of the boy’s friends occupied the back seat, police sources said.

The investigation has highlighted significant lapses in judgment and control. The police have requested the Juvenile Court that the boy be tried as an adult, noting that he was aware of the consequences of drink driving.

The boy had initially been granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), which asked him to write a 300-word essay on accidents, among other conditions. Following an outcry over the quick bail and the conditions, the board on Wednesday ordered the teen back to an observation home till June 5.

As the investigation continues, Pune Police are emphasizing the need for stringent measures to prevent such incidents in the future, underscoring the devastating consequences of reckless behavior on the road.

New Delhi:

The 17-year-old boy who was driving the speeding Porsche that hit a bike in Pune on Saturday night, killing two techies in their 20s, was out on bail 15 hours after he was arrested.

The quick bail in a case where two people have died has triggered a huge outrage, with the police saying that efforts are on to try the teen as an adult.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar told NDTV that the police are trying to prove a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder where there is knowledge that the act could cause death.

Referring to the bail order passed by the Juvenile Justice board on Sunday, Mr Kumar said that the accused in his plea mentioned that he is an alcohol addict to prove that he was not in his senses when the accident occurred.

“The accused has mentioned in his plea that he is addicted to alcohol. Irrespective of the blood report, we are trying to prove that he was fully in his senses to know that this rash act of his is likely to cause death,” Mr Kumar said.

He said that the police have contended before the court that the teen had consumed alcohol being a minor, but was in his senses to realise that his rash driving after alcohol consumption could cause death.

The Pune police Chief said that the police wants the teen to be sent to a remand home, till the court decides on their plea to prosecute him as an adult.

The teen who was at the wheel, son of a prominent realtor from the city, is just four months short of 18 years — the minimum age required to legally drive a car.

The minor was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board on conditions — he has to work with traffic police in Yerwada for 15 days, write an essay on accidents, undergo treatment for his drinking habit and take counselling sessions.

His blood report is yet to be received but preliminary probe showed that the juvenile was drunk at the time of the accident, Mr Kumar said.

“The CCTV footage of the bar clearly shows that the juvenile was consuming alcohol. There is no doubt that the juvenile was driving the car after consuming alcohol. We will be submitting all these facts to the court,” he said.

The teen’s father has been arrested. Additionally, the owners of a couple of bars where the minor was served alcohol have also been arrested.

The accident took place in the early hours of Sunday morning in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area.

The Porsche, which eyewitnesses have said was driving at over 200 km per hour and had no number plates, hit the bike. Ashwini was thrown about 20 feet in the air and landed hard, said an eyewitness. Aneesh was thrown at a parked car and suffered serious injuries. Both died on the spot.