Blood sample exchange after Porsche accident: Two doctors at Sassoon Hospital suspended, dean on leave | News from India

MUMBAI: The Maharashtra government on Wednesday suspended two doctors and an employee of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital, two days after they were arrested in connection with the alleged tampering of blood samples of the minor driver of the Porsche car crash in Pune. Separately, the dean of BJ Medical College and Sassoon Civil Hospital, Dr Vinayak Kale, was sent on compulsory leave and the additional charge was handed over to Dr Chandrakant Mhaske.

On the recommendation of the Commissioner, Department of Medical Education, Maharashtra, the suspension of Dr. Ajay Taware, Professor and Head, Department of Forensic Medicine, and Dr. Shrihari Halnor, Medical Officer, was ordered.

“The state government has received a report from the three-member committee set up to investigate the allegations. Based on the committee’s report, the Department of Medical Education has issued an order to suspend these two officials (doctors),” state Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif told reporters.

Dr. Chandrakant Mhaske is the officiating Dean of Punyashlok Ahilyadevi Government Medical College, Baramati, in Pune district.

The Pune police had arrested the two doctors and Atul Ghatkamble, a Class IV employee of Sassoon Hospital, after it was found that the blood samples of the teenage driver were thrown in a dustbin and replaced with those of another person, which showed no trace of alcohol. The trio were remanded in police custody till May 30.

According to police, the minor driver was drunk at the time of the incident that led to the death of two IT professionals in the Kalyani Nagar area of ​​Pune city in the early hours of May 19.

Meanwhile, Mushrif, who belongs to the Ajit Pawar-led NCP, admitted that Dr Taware’s appointment was made on the basis of a letter from party MP Sunil Tingare.

When asked if he was aware of previous allegations against Dr Taware, the minister said: “I do not possess divine powers to know everything about every person and their actions in my department.”

He (the MLA) recommended the appointment of Dr Taware and I agreed to it, the minister said.

“When the recommendation was made, the dean should have informed us about the reputation of this person. I was abroad until May 24 and came to know about the whole incident on May 26,” Mushrif claimed.

He said the change in blood samples was a very big and disappointing thing.

“The courts rely entirely on the results of the blood test and the autopsy reports. I have instructed the officials to teach the offenders a lesson for life. That is why we have taken the decision (to suspend) today,” the minister said.

Regarding the role of the hospital employee, a government order states: “The investigation has revealed that on the night of May 19, Ghatkamble altered the youth’s blood samples and submitted them in a sealed envelope.” He is in police custody until May 30. Since he would remain in custody for more than 48 hours, Ghatkamble was suspended from duty.

Amid the outrage over the car accident, police arrested the minor’s father and grandfather for allegedly trying to delay the investigation.

The grandfather is said to have attempted to wrongfully lock the family’s driver in their bungalow from May 19 to 20 and pressured him to take responsibility for the accident.

Prosecutors had told a local court that financial transactions had taken place in connection with the two doctors’ alleged replacement of the teenage driver’s original blood sample with another person’s sample.

The teenager’s father called one of the doctors and asked him to alter the samples, the public prosecutor’s office said. The police now want to find out who else gave the instructions to manipulate the samples.

The youth was remanded in custody until June 5.