Porsche teenager told police he was drunk and couldn’t remember the accident: sources

Pune teenager case: 17-year-old accused was filmed drinking before accident

Pune:

According to sources, the 17-year-old who killed two 24-year-old engineers in a late-night Porsche crash on a Pune road told police he could not remember what happened that night because he was drunk.

The teenager, who is currently in an observation home while the juvenile court hears the police’s request to try him as an adult, was filmed drinking shortly before the accident and is said to have spent Rs 48,000 at a pub.

During his interrogation, the teenager claimed he could not remember what happened that night, sources said.

Police are also trying to secure the minor’s original blood sample, which was allegedly swapped to absolve him of responsibility.

Several criminal charges were filed in connection with the accident after criminal investigations uncovered an elaborate plot to protect the accused teenager.

One of the cases relates to the accident, another to serving alcohol to minors and a third involves the boy’s father, a well-known real estate agent, who let him drive without a license. Separate cases have been brought against the teen’s parents for allegedly trying to destroy evidence and against his grandfather for kidnapping the family driver and threatening to take the blame for the accident.

Two doctors at the state-run Sassoon Hospital, including the head of the forensic department, were arrested for allegedly switching blood samples and thus tampering with the results.

The boy’s grandfather, father and mother were arrested for their alleged role in the cover-up attempt. The teenager’s mother, whose sample was tested instead of her son’s, has told police that doctors at Sassoon Hospital took her sample without giving a clear reason and has denied that she was trying to protect her son.

The accident, which killed software engineers Ashwini Kostha and Aneesh Awadhiya, sparked nationwide outrage after the teenager was granted bail within 15 hours of the accident, with conditions widely seen as meager, namely a 300-word essay, 15 days’ work with the traffic police, and psychiatric treatment and counselling for his alcohol addiction.

Shortly thereafter, the juvenile court changed its order and sent him to an observation home.