Pune:

The number of arrests in connection with a probe into a viral video allegedly from a Pune bar reached 14 on Monday evening after six waiters of the eatery were arrested by the Maharashtra excise department, officials said.

Earlier, the police had arrested eight persons and suspended four personnel from the force after the bar was found operating beyond the permissible time limit.

The police had launched a probe after a viral video purportedly showed some persons with a drug-like substance at Liquid Leisure Lounge, also called L3, located on Fergusson College Road in Maharashtra’s Pune city.

The eight persons, identified as Santosh Kamthe, Vitthal Kamthe, Yogendra Girase, Ravi Maheshwari, Akshay Kamthe, Dinesh Mankar, Rohan Gaikwad, Manas Mallick, were remanded in police custody till June 29 by a court here, the official said.

Citing the viral video, the prosecution told court it has emerged through social media that the accused had given narcotic like substance to its patrons in the hotel and they want to probe the issue further.

Prima facie, it has been found that the accused used social media to invite patrons to the hotel to consume narcotics substances, alcohol and smoke cigarettes, the prosecution told court, adding police wants to probe further about these customers.

Police want to trace the youths as well as a minor seen in the viral video, it said in court.

According to the police, the bar was operating till 5 am on Sunday and liquor was being sold beyond permissible time limit. Bars and pubs in Pune are allowed to remain open till 1.30 am.

Later in the evening, the state excise department said it had suspended the licence of Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3) and also arrested six waiters there for allegedly flouting liquor stock norms.

They have been arrested under provisions of Maharashtra Prohibition Act, and have been remanded in custody till June 29.

The total number of arrests in connection with the viral video reached 14, officials said.

“We have arrested eight persons, including owners and employees of the Liquid Leisure Lounge (L3) after it came to light that the establishment was operating beyond the permissible time limit on Sunday,” Pune Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar told PTI earlier in the day.

Those arrested have been booked under Indian Penal Code section 188 (disobedience to order duly promulgated by public servant) and relevant provisions of the Maharashtra Police Act, Maharashtra Prohibition Act, and the Cigarettes and Other Tobacco Products Act, he said.

An inspector, an assistant inspector and two beat marshals from the Shivajinagar police station, who were on night duty, have been suspended in connection with the case, he said.

Earlier in the afternoon, members of right wing outfit Patit Pavan Sanghatana allegedly damaged the board of the bar, pelted stones at the bar and broke plant pots kept outside the establishment, a police official said.

Meanwhile, first time Pune MP and newly-appointed Union minister Murlidhar Mohol in a post on X said though the action of suspension has been taken immediately, the police commissioner has also been instructed to launch a dedicated drive against narcotics and depute separate manpower for it.

“All colleges, pubs, hotels and other suspicious places should be searched with strict action. Police have been instructed to go to the root to see how drugs are available in the city,” Mohol said.

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

Pune:

Two engineering students riding a motorbike were killed after a truck ran them over in Maharashtra’s Pune city, police said today.

The driver of the truck, after hitting the motorbike on Monday night, did not stop and tried to run away but was caught some distance away and arrested, they said.

The incident took place at around 10:30 pm on Monday in Chandan Nagar area on Pune-Ahmednagar road when three students, in their early 20s and studying at an engineering college, were on way to the Pune railway station, the police said.

Two of them were to go to their hometown Latur in Maharashtra.

“While they were on their way, the truck hit their motorbike from the back. A youth died on the spot, while another succumbed to injuries in a hospital,” Vimaltal police station’s inspector Anand Khobre said.

“After the accident, the truck driver did not stop and tried to escape, but was stopped by police and locals about 300 metres away,” the official said.

The truck driver was arrested and charged under Indian Penal Code section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and other relevant sections, the police said, adding that an investigation was on into the case.

On May 19, a Porsche car driven by a 17-year-old boy knocked down a motorbike in Kalyani Nagar area in Pune, killing two IT professionals.
 

(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.