Porsche crash in Pune: Rs 300,000 paid for teenager’s blood sample change, hospital helper arrested | Top Updates | Latest News from India

Latest information on the Porsche accident in Pune: In a new development in the Porsche car crash case in Pune, the police have arrested a henchman of Sassoon General Hospital who allegedly took a bribe of ₹3 lakh to two senior doctors who replaced the blood samples of the juvenile driver with samples from another person which did not contain any trace of alcohol. On Monday, the Pune Police Crime Branch filed the ₹3 lakh cash, News18 reported.

Earlier on Monday, the two doctors, identified as Dr Ajay Taware, head of the forensic medicine department of Sassoon General Hospital, and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the senior medical officer, were arrested by the Pune police for allegedly tampering with the blood samples of the accused teenage driver. Hospital official Atul Ghatkamble, who works under Dr Ajay Taware, was later arrested. They were remanded in police custody till May 30.

Two young IT professionals were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by the minor boy, in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area early on May 19. Police claim that the 17-year-old was drunk at the time of the accident.

Read also | Porsche crash cover-up: How Pune police discovered a teenager’s father had used a blood sample

Porsche accident in Pune: What we know so far

1. Pune police suspect that financial transactions in the form of bribes may have taken place in connection with the alleged substitution of the original blood sample of the teenage driver of the Porsche car crash with that of another person by two doctors of the government-run Sassoon Hospital who were arrested on Monday.
2. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said at a press conference on Monday that the teenage driver’s blood samples were thrown in a dustbin and replaced with those of another person.
3. Dr Ajay Taware, Dr Shrihari Halnor and Atul Ghatkamble were remanded in police custody by the court of Magistrate First Class (Minor) AA Pande till May 30, despite the prosecution’s request for their detention for 10 days.
4. The prosecution said the teenager’s father, Vishal Agarwal, a real estate agent, called one of the doctors and asked him to tamper with the blood samples. It added that police would investigate who else gave the instructions to tamper with the samples.
5. The Pune police have added sections 201, 120-B, 467, 213 and 214 of the Indian Penal Code to the offences originally booked against the youth in the Porsche accident case.
6. In another development, a court allowed the police to take Vishal Agarwal into custody from Yerwada Central Jail in connection with the kidnapping and wrongful confinement of his driver case. A team of Porsche representatives arrived at Yerwada police station on Monday to conduct a technical examination of the luxury car involved in the accident.
7. “Investigations also revealed that it was the youth’s father who called Dr Ajay Taware and offered to exchange the blood samples,” said Amitesh Kumar. Another police officer from the Crime Branch told news agency PTI that the youth’s father called Dr Taware several times.
8. Pune Police Commissioner said the tampering of the blood sample came to light after another sample of the youth, taken for DNA sampling, was sent to another hospital. Police are now looking for the CCTV and DVR footage at Sassoon General Hospital to find out who had come to meet the accused doctors.
9. Earlier, the juvenile court had granted bail to the teenager involved in the Porsche accident and also asked him to write a 300-word essay on road accidents. However, after an outcry and a request for police review, he was sent to an observation home until June 5.
10. Earlier reports had claimed that the Pune teenager’s breathalyzer test came back negative, but video footage from one of the bars he visited that night allegedly showed him drinking with friends.

(With contributions from agencies)