Pune Porsche Crash: ₹3 Lakh Given To Change Teen’s Blood Sample, Hospital Peon Arrested
In a new development in the Pune Porsche car accident case, police have arrested a peon of Sassoon General Hospital who allegedly collected a bribe of ₹3 lakh meant for two senior doctors who replaced the juvenile driver’s blood samples with another person’s samples that showed no traces of alcohol. On Monday, the Pune Police’s Crime Branch recovered the ₹3 lakh cash, News18 reported.
Earlier on Monday, the two doctors, identified as Dr Ajay Taware, head of Sassoon General Hospital’s forensic medicine department, and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer, were arrested by the Pune Police for allegedly manipulating the blood samples of the accused teen driver. The hospital peon, Atul Ghatkamble, who works under Dr Ajay Taware, was later arrested. They were remanded in police custody until May 30.
Two young IT professionals were killed after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche allegedly driven by the minor boy in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar area of Pune city. The police claim the 17-year-old was drunk at the time of the accident.
Pune Porsche crash: What we know so far
The Pune Police suspects financial transactions in the form of ‘kickbacks’ had taken place in the alleged replacement of the original blood sample of the juvenile driver involved in the Porsche car crash with another person’s sample by two doctors of state-run Sassoon Hospital arrested on Monday.
Pune Police commissioner Amitesh Kumar, at a press conference on Monday, said the juvenile driver’s blood samples were thrown into a dustbin and replaced with another person’s samples.
Dr Ajay Taware, Dr Shrihari Halnor and Atul Ghatkamble were remanded in police custody till May 30 by the court of judicial magistrate first class (small causes) AA Pande though the prosecution sought their custody for 10 days.
The prosecution said the juvenile’s father, Vishal Agarwal, a realtor, had called one of the doctors and asked him to change the blood samples. It added that police wanted to investigate who else had given the instructions to manipulate the samples.
The Pune Police have added sections 201, 120-B, 467, 213 and 214 of the Indian Penal Code to the original offence registered against the juvenile in the Porsche crash case.
In separate developments, a court allowed the police to take custody of Vishal Agarwal from the Yerwada Central Jail in connection with the case of kidnapping and wrongful confinement of his driver. A team of representatives from Porsche reached the Yerwada police station on Monday to conduct a technical inspection of the luxury car involved in the crash.
“The investigation also revealed that it was the juvenile’s father who had called Dr Ajay Taware and offered him allurements to replace the blood samples,” Amitesh Kumar said. Another police official from the crime branch told news agency PTI that the juvenile’s father made multiple calls to Dr Taware.
The Pune Police commissioner said the manipulation of the blood sample came to light after another sample of the juvenile taken for DNA sampling was sent to another hospital. Police are now recovering the footage of CCTV cameras and its DVR in the Sassoon General Hospital to find out who had come to meet the accused doctors.
Earlier, the teenager involved in the Porsche crash case was granted bail by the juvenile justice board, which also asked him to write a 300-word essay on road accidents, but following outrage and a review application by the police, he was sent to an observation home till June 5.
Earlier, reports had claimed that the Pune teen had tested negative for alcohol. However, CCTV camera footage from one of the bars he visited that night purportedly showed him drinking with friends.