Pune car crash: Accused teen interrogated in mother's presence at juvenile home

Pune: Pune police have arrested the mother of the minor in the Porsche car accident case after confirmation that his blood samples were replaced with hers, the city police chief said on Saturday. She is likely to be produced in a court during the day.

As part of their probe, the police also spoke to the minor for about an hour at the observation home, where he has been sent till June 5, in his mother’s presence.

Citing their investigation into the accident, Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar said the juvenile's blood samples were swapped with those of his mother.

Police had told a local court two days ago that the blood samples of the 17-year-old juvenile were exchanged with those of a woman.

“We will conduct the minor's inquiry inside the home in the presence of his mother,” Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime) Shailesh Balkawade had said before police spoke to the minor.

The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Friday permitted the police to probe the teenager. Under the Juvenile Justice Act, the inquiry of a minor has to be conducted in the parents' presence.

Two IT professionals were killed in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar in Pune after a Porsche allegedly being driven by the minor, who the police claim was drunk, rammed into their two-wheeler.

The minor’s father, realtor Vishal Agarwal, and grandfather Surendra Agarwal have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping the family’s driver and putting pressure on him to take the blame.

A court on Friday remanded the teenager’s father and grandfather in judicial custody for 14 days after their police custody ended.

Police have also arrested Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the department of forensic medicine at Sassoon General Hospital, medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor and employee Atul Ghatkamble for allegedly manipulating the minor’s blood samples to show that he was not drunk at the time of the accident.

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

Dr Halnor and Ghatkamble received a total of Rs 3 lakh from Dr Taware to change the blood samples, a senior police officer had said earlier.

Police on Friday moved an application for Vishal Agarwal’s custody in connection with the alleged switching of the blood samples.

The JJB granted bail to the teenager 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 state-appointed members of JJB 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, Prashant Narnavare, commissioner of the Women and Child Department, had said earlier.