Pune:

The father of one of the IT professionals killed in the May 19 Porsche car crash in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar met police commissioner Amitesh Kumar on Friday to know details about the ongoing probe.

Anish Awadhiya (24) and his friend, who were on a motorcycle, were killed after the two-wheeler was rammed by a speeding Porsche car allegedly being driven by a drunk minor boy.

“Anish was on the brink of fulfilling his dream of going to London to pursue a masters degree in computer science. I had even applied for a Rs 40 lakh loan from a nationalised bank for his studies abroad. However, his life was tragically cut short. He was taken from us too soon,” said his father Om Awadhiya, a resident of Madhya Pradesh.

“I and my family have come to Pune to know the details of the probe into the case. We met police commissioner Amitesh Kumar and his team. I am satisfied at the way the probe is being carried out,” he told PTI at the commissionerate.

The commissioner informed about the appointment of special public prosecutor advocate Shishir Hiray in the case as well as bail pleas of the accused’s father and mother being rejected, Om Awadhiya said.

After the accident, he had lost hope believing everyone was hand in glove but the way Pune police under the commissioner has conducted the probe, Om Awadhiya said he was confident justice would be served.

“I am thankful to Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for the cooperation and support in the case. The people of Pune also raised their voice and a lot of support and demand for justice was garnered through social media. All parents should take a lesson from this incident that they should not allow their minor children to drive vehicles,” he added.

If a person in the 16-18 age group commits such a crime under the influence of liquor, then he or she should be tried as an adult, Om Awadhiya asserted.

“Two precious lives were lost and two families are now shattered. The law must be made very strict so that such incidents do not happen again,” he said.

He also cited newspaper reports claiming the family of the accused was seeking a return of the Porsche car and the minor’s passport.

The passport is being sought to let him escape in the manner of fugitives like Nirav Modi, he claimed.

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

Pune:

The minor accused of killing two persons after ramming his Porsche car in an inebriated state into a motorcycle in Pune on May 19 has undergone a 15-day safe driving programme as mandated by a court, a Regional Transport Office (RTO) official said on Sunday.

Two IT professionals from Madhya Pradesh were killed in the incident, which took place in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar and triggered massive outrage nationwide, partly because of the accused getting bail from the Juvenile Justice Board on lenient terms and due to a police probe finding attempts by his family and some doctors to cover up the crime.

While being released on bail by the JJB, among the conditions placed on him were writing a 300-word essay on road accidents as well as taking help of the RTO to study traffic rules and regulations.

“The juvenile accused completed the safe driving programme with the RTO. With respect to the guidelines of the court, the operation was kept discreet as it could have led to issue of privacy of the juvenile,” a top RTO official said.

“The training programme included road driving safety measures, importance of driving licence, meaning of road signals and symbols and other activities. During the process, the juvenile was also taken for on-field training,” the official added.

The minor has already submitted the 300-word essay, other officials said.

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

New Delhi:
A 17-year-old boy who was involved in the Porsche car accident that killed two techies in Pune last month has been granted a big relief by the Bombay High Court which ordered that he should be released immediately from an observation home.

Here Are Bombay High Court’s Top Quotes:

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.

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