Cast list in controversial Pune Porsche accident case | Pune News

Tingre had reached the accident spot and the Yerwada police station within an hour of the incident after learning about it from his associates as well as the juvenile accused’s father. Though he was accused of influencing the investigation and application of the provisions against the minor, he denied these allegations. “After being informed by the police inspector about a serious accident, I told him to follow the law,” Tingre clarified.

Although the focus shifted to other aspects of the case after a few days, unwanted attention returned to Tingre after the Pune police arrested Dr. Ajay Taware, the head of the forensic department, and Dr. Shrihari Harnol, the chief medical officer of the Sassoon General Hospital.

A recommendation letter from Tingre to Dr Taware dated December 2023, endorsing him for the post of medical director of Sassoon Hospital, resurfaced on social media. It also contained allegations that Tingre had a long-standing association with the doctor accused of swapping the blood sample of the youth involved in the Porsche accident for a breathalyzer test. The letter, dated December 26, 2023, to Minister of Medical Education and Research Hassan Mushrif, said: “Dr Ajay Taware is personally known to me… During the Covid-19 crisis, he has done commendable work. I request you to take appropriate steps at your level to appoint him as the medical director.” The letter seems to have had the desired effect, as Mushrif responded positively to it and Dr Taware was appointed as the head of the forensic department.

Dr Taware has avoided the media since the new allegations emerged and, according to NCP insiders, has also been reprimanded by the party leadership for his “improper conduct”.

When asked whether there was any communication between Tingre and Dr Taware at the time of sample collection, two senior officers of Pune Police said that till date they have not found any communication between the two that could possibly lead to prosecution.

Court: Dr. LN Danawade, Member (extrajudicial) of the Juvenile Court, Pune

After his arrest following the accident early on Sunday, the minor was produced before the JJB in Pune in the afternoon of the same day. The Pune police sought his detention in the remand center and permission to try the accused as an adult.

The JJB, which on Sunday consisted of only one non-judicial member instead of its full strength of three, including a judicial member, had rejected both the applications and granted bail to the accused on various conditions, including writing an essay, studying road safety norms and undergoing detoxification counselling. Dr LN Danwade, the non-judicial member of the JJB, was the sole signatory of the order.

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed shock at the “extremely lenient” manner in which the JJB granted bail to the boy.

The Pune police had challenged the juvenile court’s order before the Pune district court, which remanded the case to the juvenile court for a fresh hearing under the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act. On May 22, the three-judge juvenile court ordered the minor’s remand in an observation home in Pune until June 5.

Residents of Kalyani Nagar pay their last respects to the IT engineers who died in the Porsche car accident on May 19. (Express photo by Pavan Khengre)

Family: The father of the minor

The 50-year-old estate agents is accused of several offenses in the case. The first case against him related to the provisions of sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act because he had allowed his underage son to consume alcohol and drive the Porsche while drunk.

According to police, he went on the run soon after a complaint of crime was filed against him and was arrested by the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar police and brought back to the city. He was later arrested along with the minor’s grandfather on charges of kidnapping, forcibly taking the driver and threatening him to take the blame for the accident. Police told the court that their investigation revealed that CCTV footage seized from the minor’s house at the time of commission of the crime had been tampered with.

The father was also charged in the case in which Dr Taware, Dr Halnor and a staff member of the Sassoon Hospital morgue were charged for mixing up the minor’s blood sample taken for breathalyzer testing. Police investigations have revealed that the father allegedly had up to 14 phone conversations with the minor’s father in the two hours before the minor’s blood sample was taken on the morning of May 19.

The minor’s grandfather

The minor’s 77-year-old grandfather, head of the real estate agent family, is currently facing public attention and police action. He is accused of kidnapping the driver who was accompanying the minor at the time of the accident and forcing and pressuring him to take responsibility for the fatal accident.

On March 25, six days after the incident, 42-year-old driver Gangadhar Herikrub filed a complaint alleging that the minor’s grandfather forced him to get into a car while he was returning home late on May 19. He was then locked in his house without a phone. He was threatened and promised gifts if he accepted responsibility for the accident. The grandfather is in police custody.

As the police found out, four other criminal cases were pending against the grandfather in Pune and Satara district in the past.

Sassoon Hospital: Dr. Ajay Taware, Dr. Shrihari Halnor and Atul Ghatkamble

Dr. Taware, Head of the Department of Forensic Medicine, got arrested was arrested by the police on May 27 along with two other people – Dr. Shrihari Halnor, an emergency doctor and Atul Ghatkamble, a member of the hospital morgue staff. The accusation was that he had altered the sample taken from the minor in exchange for money in order to help the minor’s case. Investigations revealed that the sample had been disposed of in a garbage bin at the hospital.

Police have also recovered Rs 300,000 in cash – Rs 250,000 from Dr Halnor and Rs 50,000 from Ghatkamble. Police raided the premises linked to Dr Taware on Tuesday and Wednesday. Police said the focus of the investigation is now on Dr Taware’s financial transactions, how much money he received or was promised and from whom. Another important aspect is the blood sample with which they replaced the minor’s sample. “Our investigation suggests that it was Dr Taware’s idea to alter the sample, tamper with the blood alcohol test and thwart the investigation,” said a senior police official.

Dr. Taware’s name had previously cropped up in connection with a rat bite death at the hospital in April 2022, as well as in connection with kidney transplant irregularities at the hospital in 2022.

Police: Police Inspector Rahul Jagdale, Deputy PI Vishwanath Todkari of Yerawada Police Station

The conduct of the Yerwada police station officials in the Porsche accident case in the initial stages was heavily criticised. The “weak” sections used and the delay in taking the blood sample were criticised as was the “VIP treatment” given to the minor accused. The police had initially invoked Section 304A of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to culpable homicide. Later, the police invoked Section 304 of the Indian Penal Code, which relates to intentional killing not amounting to murder.

Based on this allegation and the findings of an internal investigation, the Pune Police suspended Police Inspector Rahul Jagdale and Assistant Police Inspector Vishwanaath Todkari for dereliction of duty.

“The officer in charge has shown some negligence,” said Pune Commissioner Amitesh Kumar. “The complaint was filed against the minor boy on May 19 at around 8 am. He was then taken to the hospital for medical examination. There, blood samples were taken from him at around 11 am. There was a mistake in collecting the blood samples on time,” said Kumar. He said the officers also failed to inform the radio control room on time.

Pubs: Pralhad Bhutada, Naman Pralhad Bhutada, Sachin Katkar, Sandip Sangale, Jayesh Bonkar

In connection with the offence in which the minor’s father has been charged under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act for allowing his minor son to drink liquor and drive the Porsche in an intoxicated state, the police have also booked the owners and manager of the two pubs where liquor was allegedly served to the minor. The accused have been identified as the owners of Cosie restaurant, Pralhad Bhutada (58) and Naman Pralhad Bhutada (25), and its manager, Sachin Katkar (35), and two managers of Blak restaurant, Sandip Sangale (34) and Jayesh Bonkar. While taking the three persons associated with the two pubs where the minor accused had served liquor were in police custody, the presiding judge asked, “What will the people on the streets do? Because the people who come to big pubs will not walk home. They will drive their cars. Something has to change this situation. Don’t you know how much alcohol is being served to customers? Set a limit on it.”