Car accident involving Porsche in Pune: Teenager’s mother arrested

Pune: Pune police have arrested the mother of the youth in the Porsche car crash case after confirming that his blood samples were replaced with hers, the city police chief said on Saturday. She is likely to be produced before a court later today.

Superintendent of Police Amitesh Kumar said the accident investigation revealed that the youth’s blood samples were mixed up with those of his mother. Police had told a local court two days ago that the youth’s blood samples were mixed up with those of a woman.

In the early hours of May 19, two IT professionals were killed in Kalyani Nagar in Pune when a Porsche, allegedly driven by the minor, who police said was drunk, crashed into their two-wheeler.

While the 17-year-old minor has been sent to an observation home till June 5, his father, real estate agent Vishal Agarwal, and grandfather Surendra Agarwal have been arrested for kidnapping the family driver and pressurizing him to take the blame. A court on Friday remanded the minor’s father and grandfather in 14-day judicial custody after their police custody ended.

Police also arrested Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the Department of Forensic Medicine at Sassoon General Hospital, doctor Dr Shrihari Halnor and staff member Atul Ghatkamble on suspicion of tampering with the minor’s blood samples to prove that he was not drunk at the time of the accident.

According to police, about a dozen phone calls were made between Vishal Agarwal and Dr. Ajay Taware, one of the arrested doctors, while samples were being collected for a breathalyzer test.

Police found that Dr Ajay Taware was on vacation in Pune on the night of the accident and got a call from someone. He accepted Rs 300,000 and called Dr Halnor to tamper with the blood samples,” Maharashtra Minister Hasan Mushrif said on Friday. Police on Friday filed an application seeking the arrest of Vishal Agarwal in connection with the alleged tampering of the blood samples.

Meanwhile, the juvenile court has allowed the police to examine the minor who was allegedly involved in the Porsche accident. According to the Juvenile Court Act, the examination of a minor must take place in the presence of parents.

The JJB released the teenager, the son of real estate developer Vishal Agarwal, on bail hours after the May 19 accident and asked him to write a 300-word essay on road safety. Amid a nationwide outcry, the police again approached the JJB, which modified the order and sent him to the observation home till June 5.

After a single member of the JJ board granted bail to the youth, the Maharashtra government set up a committee to investigate the conduct of the state-appointed members of the JJB and whether norms were followed while issuing directions in the Pune car accident case. The committee, headed by a deputy commissioner, will submit its report next week, Prashant Narnavare, commissioner of the women and child welfare department, had earlier said.