Pune/Jabalpur. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said on Friday that an attempt was made to tamper with evidence in the Porsche car accident case to show that an adult was driving the car and not a 17-year-old teenager at the time of the accident. Kumar told reporters that an attempt was made to show that an adult driver was driving the car, but this attempt failed.
He said, “We have CCTV footage of him (the teenager) drinking alcohol in the pub. That is to say, our case does not depend only on the blood report and we have other evidence as well.” Kumar said, “He (the teenager) was fully conscious, he knew very well that his act could lead to such an accident in which section 304 is applicable.” On the allegations of providing facilities to the teenager in the police station, the Police Commissioner said that an ACP level officer is investigating this claim.
On the news of the accused teenager being fed pizza after the incident, Kumar said, “We have clearly said that there was no pizza party in the police station. But yes, something did happen on which we started an internal investigation.” He said, “We are trying to make this case completely solid. We have registered a case against the accused’s father and the bar operators. Technical analysis of the evidence is being done.” The police officer said that the internal investigation has indicated that some police personnel lapse in registering the case. He said that action will be taken against them.
He said, “During our investigation it has become clear that the teenager was driving the car and we have collected all the necessary evidence related to the incident. For example, when the teenager left the house, there is an entry in the register of him leaving the house with the car.” The Police Commissioner said that on the basis of technical and CCTV evidence it has been confirmed that the teenager was driving the car. He said that eyewitnesses have also confirmed that the teenager was driving the car at the time of the incident.
Kumar said that an attempt was made to show that the car was being driven by a driver of the family and not the teenager when it hit two people in the Kalyani Nagar area of the city around 3 am on Sunday. He said, “We are investigating these things and will take action against those who tried to do so under section 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC.” When asked about the blood samples, Kumar said that the teenager was sent to Sasoon Hospital at around 9 am on Sunday after the case was registered.
He said, “There was a delay in taking the blood samples and the samples were taken at 11 pm but the blood report is not the main basis in our case.” Kumar said that a case has been registered under Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and the teenager was well aware that driving in a drunken state can lead to such a crime and can lead to loss of life.
As a precautionary measure, additional blood samples were taken for testing in another laboratory to ensure that both the samples and the DNA report belonged to the same person.
He said, “We have not received the blood test reports but the process is being expedited.” Kumar said that in the initial FIR, section 304 A (causing death by negligence) was applied, but on the same day it was replaced with section 304. The police commissioner said that an ACP level officer is being assigned the investigation to find out if there was any attempt to tamper with the evidence or destroy them. He also said that special lawyers will be appointed to effectively present the police’s side in the court. On complaints about allegations of instigating some police personnel to do wrong things, Kumar said that the police has taken a tough stand from the beginning.
He said, “So it is not right to say that there was pressure on the police or there was negligence on the part of the police. But investigation is going on to find out why section 304 was not imposed in the first place.” When asked about complaints of pressure on some eyewitnesses, Kumar said, “If such a thing comes to light, strict action will be taken against the concerned police officer.” In Kalyani Nagar of Pune on Sunday morning, a minor driver, allegedly driving a Porsche car, hit two software engineers going on a motorcycle, killing both of them.
Court sends accused juvenile’s father, five others to judicial custody
A Pune court on Friday sent six people, including Vishal Agarwal, the father of the 17-year-old accused in the Porsche accident case, in which two people were killed, to judicial custody till June 7. The prosecution had requested extension of their police custody for further investigation. However, the court sent Agarwal and others, including the owner and employees of two establishments serving liquor, to judicial custody.
Parents of engineers killed in Pune car accident demand probe under apex court’s supervision
The parents of two software engineers who died in a car accident in Pune on Friday demanded that the Supreme Court should monitor the investigation and trial of the case. Both the families have also demanded that the case should be heard in Madhya Pradesh and not in Maharashtra because the deceased were from Madhya Pradesh.
Aneesh Avadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, 24-year-old IT professionals from Madhya Pradesh, were killed when their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old boy in Pune city on May 19. While Ashwini was from Jabalpur, Aneesh was from Birsinghpur Pali in Umaria district.
Speaking to PTI, Ashwini’s father Suresh Kumar Koshta said, “The Supreme Court should monitor the investigation and trial of the case to ensure that we get justice.” He said that given the serious nature of the crime, the accused should be tried as an adult and not a minor. Koshta alleged that the accused was in an inebriated state when he ran his car over his daughter and Aneesh.
Two policemen suspended for negligence in car accident case
Two officers of Yerawada police station have been suspended for alleged negligence in the accident involving a Porsche car driven by a 17-year-old minor in Pune, Maharashtra. Additional Police Commissioner Manoj Patil said that Inspector Rahul Jagdale and Assistant Police Inspector Vishwanath Todkari have been suspended for “delay in giving information” and “negligence in duty”. An accident case was registered at Yerawada police station after the car accident in Kalyani Nagar area of the city.
Earlier in the day, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar had said that an internal investigation found that police officials had lapses while registering the case. He admitted that there was a delay in taking blood samples of the teenager. The teenager had allegedly consumed alcohol in two pubs before the accident. The commissioner said that the accident took place around 3 am on Sunday, blood samples were taken at 11 pm. Kumar said that apart from this, the crime was initially registered under Section 304 (A) (death due to negligence) of the Indian Penal Code and later Section 304 (culpable homicide) was added. Two people lost their lives in this accident.