Pune Porsche crash: Oppn questions panel formed to probe blood sample manipulation

Medical Education Commissioner Rajiv Nivatkar on Monday issued the order appointing the dean of Grant Medical College and J J group of hospitals Dr Pallavi Sapale as the chairperson of the committee.

Mumbai: Rattled by the arrests of two doctors and a peon of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital of Pune in connection with the sensational Porsche hit-and-run case, the Maharashtra government has appointed a three-member panel to go into the issue in detail and submit a report.

The committee comprises Dr Pallavi Saple, Dean of Sir J J Hospital in Mumbai; Dr. Gajanan Chauhan of Grant Medical College in Mumbai; and Dr Sudhir Choudhary of Government Medical College & Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The three-member committee has already commenced its brief, however, the opposition Maha Vikas Aghadi has questioned the appointment of Dr Saple as the Chairperson of the committee. 

Dr Saple told reporters  that the panel would inquire into all aspects and submit its report to the government though she did not indicate a time-frame.

"We have been asked to investigate the incident as to what has happened in Sassoon Hospital regarding the Kalyani Nagar incident. We have to find out whether it was carried out according to the rules or not... We will submit the report to the government,” she said. 

However, she did not give any time frame. “We have been asked today to investigate. We are going. We will gathering information and act accordingly,” she said. 

Leader of the Opposition in the Council Ambadas Danve said that the probe panel is not acceptable. “We demand for a judicial probe into the hit-and-run case, the subsequent investigations and the hospital irregularities that have emerged,” said Danve, a leader of the Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena (UBT).

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) Deputy Leader Sushma Andhare slammed the government for appointing Dr Saple as she herself faces corruption charges.  “She is facing many corruption charges… The allegations were levelled by Maha Yuti’s Shiv Sena MLA Yamini Jadhav (who contested the Lok Sabha elections from Mumbai South). The government must answer what action has been taken against her,” Andhare asked. 

Anti-corruption activist Anjali Damania said: “Why has Dr Saple, who herself has been accused of corruption, been appointed to head the committee.”

The Pune police has arrested Dr Ajay Taware, the Head of Forensic Medicine Department and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the Casualty Medical Officer and a peon Atul Ghatkamble of the Sassoon General Hospital for tampering with the blood samples of the accused.