Pune:

The case against the Pune teen – who killed two people early Sunday while drunk and driving his father’s Rs 2.5 crore Porsche supercar – took an additional twist Thursday evening.

The police will now also investigate potential lapses in protocol in the hours following the incident, including possible preferential treatment for the 17-year-old son of a prominent city builder.

Specifically, a senior cop – Assistant Commissioner of Police Ashwini Rakh – will question officers and staff at the police station in Yerwada where the complaint was first filed. The allegations include underplaying the horrific nature of the incident in the first write-ups and delaying a medical examination, which should have been done immediately to establish the boy’s blood alcohol level.

But perhaps most shocking is a claim that the cops were more interested in ‘investigating’ Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta – the 24-year-old software professionals who were killed.

Pizza, Burger For Teen In Pune Porsche Crash?

Meanwhile, an opposition politician has said the boy was handled cautiously and even given food – pizzas and burgers – while in police custody as an accused in a stomach-churning road accident.

The claim was made by Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi chief and two-time ex-Lok Sabha MP Prakash Ambedkar, who posted on X, “Officers at Yerwada Police Station spent more time questioning the relationship between Anish and Ashwini – IT professionals fatally knocked down by drunk minor -while the accused was allegedly served burger and pizza”, and posed six questions to the cops.

Officers at Yerawada police station spent more time questioning the relationship between Anish and Ashwini — the two IT professionals who were fatally knocked down by the drunk minor — while the accused was allegedly served burger and pizza.

This is how the system benefits the…

— Prakash Ambedkar (@Prksh_Ambedkar) May 22, 2024

Among the questions he raised (and which may now be answered) were the eight-hour delay in administering a blood alcohol test and why the boy was not sent directly to a remand home.

READ | “1 Hour TV, 2 Hours Play Time”: Pune Teen’s Remand Home Schedule

There was outrage after the Juvenile Board gave the boy bail within 15 hours on conditions as ridiculous as two bonds of Rs 7,500 each and writing a 300-word essay on road accidents. Late Wednesday that order was revised and the boy was sent to a remand home till June 5.

At present the boy faces a drunk driving charge that, for a first-time offence, limits punishment to six months jail and a fine of Rs 10,000. A charge of culpable homicide not amounting to murder will be levied should the Juvenile Board allow him to be tried as an adult.

Rahul Gandhi On Pune Porsche Crash

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi has also questioned the cops over preferential treatment for the boy, asking why accused in similar cases – if they are auto or cab drivers – don’t get bail as quickly.

READ | With 7 Conditions, Teen Porsche Driver Got Bail On Grandad’s Say

“When a teen from a rich family drinks alcohol and kills two people in a Porsche… he is told to pen an ‘essay’. Why are bus, truck, and auto drivers, or cabbies, not asked to write such essays?”

“The question is of equal justice (for) the poor and prosperous…” he said.

Father’s Mobile Phone Found

Police have also found the mobile phone of the boy’s father, who was arrested the day after the incident from Sambhajinagar (earlier Aurangabad) after an elaborate rescue plan was thwarted.

READ | Pune Teen’s Father Had Big Escape Plan. How Was He Caught?

The phone – understood to be the father’s original, which he left at home while trying to escape the cops – is now in the custody of the Crime Branch, which says he is not cooperating with the probe.

The father faces a charge of willful neglect of his son under Section 75 of the Juvenile Justice Act.

NDTV Explains | Charges Against Pune Builder, Son Who Killed 2 With Porsche

The bar where the boy was served alcohol has been sealed, and its owner and staff are in police custody. They are being investigated for selling liquor to an under-aged individual.

At 17 years and 8 months, the boy was four months short of the legal age for driving and eight years shy of Maharashtra’s legal drinking age, which is 25.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click on the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.

Pune:

Following the gruesome killing of two persons with a speeding Porsche on May 19, the Pune Police started grilling three generations of the city’s realtor family, a member of which is the prime accused, on Thursday.

They include – the minor boy who was allegedly at the wheel of the Porsche at the time of the accident, his father the realtor, and his grandfather.

The minor was over-speeding and driving rash in a drunken state at a dizzying speed of around 200 kmph, and minutes later killing two techies from Madhya Pradesh.

The minor’s father is being probed for allegedly giving his underage son the Porsche car that had no registration and allowing the driver to let the boy drive it, though he had no driver’s licence.

During the grilling, he reportedly admitted that it was a “mistake” to give the luxury car to his son on May 18 (Saturday) night which resulted in the early Sunday heinous tragedy.

The boy’s grandfather is under the scanner in a 15-year-old case of allegedly ordering a hit on a Shiv Sena ex-corporator Ajay Bhosale over some business dispute in October 2009, and the matter is currently sub-judice, with the Crime Branch probing the alleged mafia links with Chhota Rajan.

Finally, the minor boy – labelled as the ‘Richie Rich brat’ – is being questioned by the concerned authorities at the Juvenile Correctional Home where he was shunted on May 22, after a massive public outcry and protests.

According to the investigators, the boy had splurged at least Rs 48,000 on a party for around a dozen of his young friends at a restaurant and pub in Pune, where they were served a choice of imported hard liquors without verifying their age, and even kept the establishments open beyond the permissible hours.

After the binge, the youngsters trooped out and the minor boy sped off in his Porsche killing Ashwini Koshta and Aneesh Awadhiya – both 24 – who were returning home on a motorcycle after a reunion with friends that fateful morning.

Barely 15 hours later, the boy – ostensibly using his influential family connections – secured bail, was ‘punished’ in the form of writing an essay on the Porsche tragedy, consented to work for a fortnight with the Yerawada Traffic Police Department and willingness to undergo medical counselling for alcohol de-addiction.

As the local people expressed rage and the issue snowballed politically, the Pune Police filed a review plea against the May 19 order after which the Juvenile Justice Board on May 22 cancelled his bail and sent him to the Juvenile Correctional Home for 14 days.

Apart from the family, three others accused in the same case were also arrested on May 20 – the Cosie Restaurant owner Prahlad Bhutada, manager Sachin Katkar and bartender Sandeep Sangle.

They are currently in police custody till Friday (May 24) for allegedly serving alcohol illegally to a minor customer and his friends without verifying their identity or age, and the premises were raided and sealed by the State Excise Department on Wednesday.
 

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