Pune:

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) here on Friday allowed police to investigate the minor allegedly involved in the Porsche crash that left two techies dead, an official said.

The police had written to the JJB seeking permission to probe the 17-year-old, who is currently in an observation home.

“The hearing took place before the JJ board and it allowed our plea,” said Shailesh Balkawade, Additional Commissioner of Police (crime).

Police claim the teenager was driving the luxury car in an inebriated state when it hit two IT professionals on a motorbike in the city’s Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19.

Under the Juvenile Justice Act, inquiry of a minor has to be conducted in the parents’ presence.

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

After the bail was given to the juvenile by a single member of the JJ Board, the Maharashtra government set up a committee to probe the conduct of the JJB members and check if norms were followed while issuing orders in the Pune car crash case.

The committee, headed by a deputy commissioner, will submit its report by next week, said Prashant Narnavare, commissioner of the Women and Child Department.

The JJB comprises a member from the judiciary and two persons appointed by the state government. The current inquiry has been set up to probe the conduct of the state-appointed members, the official said.

The minor’s father and grandfather have been arrested for allegedly wrongfully confining the family’s driver after the accident, offering him cash and gifts for taking the blame (and shielding the minor), and also threatening him.

The police have also arrested two doctors and a staffer from Sassoon General Hospital here for allegedly manipulating the teenager’s blood samples to show that he was not drunk at the time of the accident.

Police on Friday moved an application for custody of the teenager’s father in connection with the alleged switching of the blood samples. Earlier in the day, Judicial Magistrate (First Class) AA Pande remanded the real estate developer and his father (the minor’s grandfather) in judicial custody for 14 days after their police custody in the driver kidnapping case got over.

As per the police, about a dozen calls were exchanged between the juvenile’s father and Dr Ajay Taware, one of the arrested doctors, while samples were being collected for testing for alcohol consumption.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Pune:

Police investigating the Porsche car crash allegedly involving a juvenile driver are planning “digital reconstruction” of the accident scene using some latest AI-based tools and software for “evidence appreciation”, a senior police officer said on Wednesday.

He said such AI (Artificial Intelligence) tools have not yet been used for reconstructing accident scenes, though they have been effectively used in murder cases to reconstruct the body for identification.

“By leveraging these AI tools, we aim to reconstruct the entire accident and crime scene in detail. The objective is to create a comprehensive visualisation of the crime/accident scene to enhance evidence appreciation,” the officer told PTI.

The juvenile son of a city-based builder allegedly drank alcohol at a restaurant and a club before driving the car at high speed, which crashed into a motorbike in the early hours of May 19, killing two IT professionals, police had said.

The digital reconstruction involves recreating the route from the juvenile’s home to Cosie Restaurant to Blak Club in Mundhwa area, and from the Club to the accident spot in Kalyani Nagar area.

“There are some AI simulated models and core softwares wherein if CCTV camera footage, photos or spot photos are inputted, they can create some 3D image or 3D walk-through,” the officer added.

Police had collected a large volume of CCTV footage along the route taken by the juvenile, leading to the spot of the accident, which will come in handy in the digital reconstruction of the accident site.

As per the police, the juvenile, who is in the observation home, had partied in Cosie restaurant and Blak Club.

Police had arrested the minor’s father and grandfather for allegedly trying to stall the investigation.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Reacting sharply to an activist’s claims that he had called the Pune police commissioner to “pressure him” after the accident in which a 17-year-old had killed two techies in their 20s in his Porsche, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he is ready to undergo a narco test to prove his innocence but asked whether the person making the allegation was ready to take ‘sanyas’ (lead a life of renunciation) if he is proven innocent. 

Activist Anjali Damania has alleged that Mr Pawar had called Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar after the Porsche accident and the deputy chief minister had, on Monday, said he had done so to ensure that the senior cop did not give in to any pressure. 

“As a people’s representative, we receive calls regarding such accidents. I had called the police commissioner and told him that the accused boy was from a wealthy family and there was a chance the police might be pressured. I told him not to succumb to any political pressure,” the NCP leader was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.

When he was asked about the activist claiming that the calls were made to favour the accused and demanding that his phone records be checked, Mr Pawar said in Marathi, “I am ready for a narco test but, if I am cleared, you (Ms Damania) should stay quiet at home and take ‘sanyas’. Is she ready for that?”

Colleagues In Dock Too

The deputy chief minister’s comments came on a day when the dean of Sassoon Hospital –  where two doctors were arrested for allegedly replacing the teenager’s blood samples to ensure that no alcohol was detected in them – claimed that a minister and an MLA from Mr Pawar’s party had written a letter asking for one of the doctors to be made the head of the forensics department. 

Dr Vinayak Kale claimed that the letter was written by Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif and MLA Sunil Tingre in favour of Dr Ajay Tawade, who was suspended as the head of the hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department on Wednesday . Mr Tingre is already in the eye of a storm for visiting the police station where the teenager was taken after the accident on May 19 to allegedly pressure officials into going easy on the case. 

Dr Kale was later sent on compulsory leave by the Maharashtra government for “failing to take the case seriously” and “not taking proper decisions” as the dean.

On May 18, the 17-year-old son of a prominent Pune realtor had gone partying – in a Rs 2.5-crore Porsche – with his friends to celebrate his Class 12 results. They went to two pubs and drank illegally, paying a bill of Rs 48,000 at one of them.

The teen then got into the Porsche with two of his friends and crashed into a scooter in Kalyani Nagar at a speed of at least 150 kmph in the early hours of May 19, killing two 24-year-old IT professionals on the spot. Aneesh Awadhiya, who was riding the bike was sent flying and hit a parked car, while Ashwini Koshta – who was riding pillion – was flung 20 feet into the air. 

The teenager had got bail the same day and was asked to write a 300-word essay as one of the conditions. Three days later, after nationwide outrage, he was sent to a remand home till June 5. 

New Delhi/Pune:

The peon, who was arrested in the Pune Porsche crash case yesterday along with two doctors for allegedly manipulating the blood test report of the 17-year-old accused, handed Rs 3 lakh bribe to the doctors, sources have said.

Sources say the peon, Atul Ghatkamble, acted as the middleman and collected Rs 3 lakh bribe meant for the two doctors from the teen’s family.

Dr Ajay Tawade and Dr Hari Harnor of Sasoon Hospital were arrested yesterday by the Pune Crime Branch.

Investigation has revealed Dr Tawade and the teen accused’s father spoke over the phone on the day of the accident. “The juvenile’s father had called the doctor and offered him allurements to replace the blood samples,” police said.

Dr Taware has hinted at the minor blood samples being replaced by the blood samples of a doctor, it’s learnt. Officials said the samples were swapped to remove the traces of alcohol.

“I will not keep quiet. I will take everyone’s name,” he said during the investigation.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar had yesterday said that the samples collected at the hospital and sent for forensic tests were not of the juvenile accused.

“Around 11 am on May 19, a blood sample (of the teen) that was taken at Sassoon Hospital was thrown in a dustbin and the blood sample of another person was taken and sent to the forensic lab. During the investigation, we found CMO Srihari Halnor replaced this on the instructions of Ajay Tawade, HOD of forensic medicine department at Sassoon Hospital,” Mr Kumar had said while addressing the media.

As the minor’s blood samples were replaced, the report which was received on Sunday showed no traces of alcohol. However, CCTV footage from one of the bars he visited that night showed him drinking with friends.

Two young IT professionals were killed after their motorcycle was hit by the speeding Porsche allegedly driven by the 17-year-old boy in the early hours of May 19 in Pune.

The Porsche, believed to have been at over 200 km per hour speed, hit the bike on which two 24-year-old techies were returning home after a party. Ashwini was thrown about 20 feet in the air and landed hard, said an eyewitness. Aneesh was thrown at a parked car and suffered serious injuries. Both died on the spot.