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.)

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:

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar today said that there is an attempt being made to frame a driver instead of the 17-year-old teen accused of running over two people. He also said that soon after the crash, an attempt was made to switch drivers after the crash so that the minor wouldn’t land in trouble.

“It is true that at the start the driver had said that he was driving the car. We are investigating this part and also under whose pressure the driver made that statement we are investigating it. Effort was made to change the driver during that period. We are investigating this also,” Mr Kumar said during a press conference. He refuted reports that the car was being handled by the driver and said that they have video footage to prove that the 17-year-old was driving the luxury car.

“We have the CCTV footage of him drinking liquor in the pub. The point of saying this is that our case is not alone depending on the blood report we have other evidence also. He (the minor accused) was in his senses. It was not as if all of them were so drunk that they could not understand anything. They had full knowledge that due to their conduct, an incident like section 304 cab happen,” the Pune Commissioner said.

Pune Police sources also said that minutes after the accident, the parents of the accused asked the driver to take blame in exchange for cash.

The accident took place in the early hours of Sunday, when the 17-year-old, who had been drinking with his friends in two pubs in Pune to celebrate his Class 12 results, knocked down the two IT professionals in the Kalyani Nagar area. Aneesh Awadhiya (24), who was riding the bike was sent flying and hit a parked car, while Ashwini Koshta (25) – who was riding pillion – was flung 20 feet into the air. Both of them died on the spot.

New Delhi:

Two techies were killed after a speeding Porsche – being driven by a 17-year-old boy – hit their bike in Pune on Saturday. The incident has triggered massive anger, with many blaming lax laws for deaths due to rash driving and minors on the wheels.

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 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 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.

In response to the bail decision, Pune Police have filed an application with the sessions court to try the juvenile as an adult.

Charges Against Teen

The teen would be tried and punished under Section 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act, which deals with drink driving offences.

The act states that drink driving is a criminal offense if a breath analyzer test reveals that the blood alcohol concentration of the driver of the motor vehicle is more than 30 mg per 100 ml.

For the first drink driving offence under the act, a person can get six months of jail and a fine of Rs 10,000. For a second offence, you could spend up to 2 years in jail and be fined Rs 15,000 (up from Rs 3,000). Repeat offenders might also face penalties related to their driving licenses.

Police are also trying to prove a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder where there is knowledge that the act could cause death.

Charges Against Teen’s Father

A case has been filed against the teen’s father under Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act. These sections pertain to willful neglect of a child and providing intoxicating substances to a minor, respectively.

The former deals with the willful neglect of a child, or exposing a child to mental or physical illnesses, for which punishment can stretch to a three-year jail term and a fine of Rs 1 lakh. The latter deals with supplying a child with intoxicating liquor, or any narcotics or drugs, unless prescribed by a qualified medical practitioner, and those convicted could face up to seven years in jail.