Forgery, criminal conspiracy charges added against father of Pune teenager

Pune:

Father of 17-year-old Pune teenager – who killed two people while 'heavily drunk' and driving his father's Rs 2.5 crore Porsche electric sports car – faces additional charges forgery, criminal conspiracy and destruction of evidence. The father – a city real estate tycoon arrested while trying to evade cops – already faces charges of willful neglect of his child under the Juvenile Justice Act.

The father is currently in prison until June 7 for cheating; he apparently did not pay the registration fee of Rs 1,758 for the expensive and high-performance car. He will likely be brought before a district court – by the Crime Division, which has handled all related matters – on other charges.

READ | Father of teenager in Porsche crash accused of cheating and jailed until June 7

The boy's grandfather was also arrested and is now in custody; he was accused of “unjustly locking up” a member of the family's staff – the driver of the Porsche which transported the teenager and two of his friends at the start of a drinking party intended to celebrate passing the Class 12 exams – who was allegedly threatened and bribed, with money and gifts, to take responsibility for this horrific incident.

The father and grandfather were also accused of kidnapping and forcible confinement.

READ | Cash, kidnapping: how the family of a Pune teenager tried to shift the blame

The police are expected to question the two individuals about this accusation.

The Porsche crash case in Pune has taken a murky turn since the teenager – four months before the legal driving age and almost eight years before the legal drinking age – crashed a bike carrying Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, 24-year-old IT professionals from Madhya Pradesh – at 2:15 am on May 19.

The most recent turning point was the arrest of two doctors from the state-run Sassoon Hospital, accused of manipulating the results of the boy's blood test. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said samples taken at the hospital and sent for forensic tests – to possibly establish blood alcohol content – did not come from the teenager. “This means the samples have been replaced,” Kumar told reporters.

READ | Pune teenager's blood sample thrown in dustbin, 3 arrested

“Around 11am on May 19, a blood sample (from the teenager) taken at Sassoon Hospital was thrown into a dustbin… another person's sample was sent to the laboratory. Superintendent Srihari Halnor replaced the sample…We found out that Halnor replaced it on the instructions of Ajay Tawade, the head of the forensic department of the hospital…”, confirmed the top Pune police officer.

Questions have also been raised over police failure to follow protocol.

READ | Porsche crash in Pune: a teenager was not subjected to a medical examination in time

Officers at the Yerwada police station, where the case was first filed, failed to take the teenager through the mandatory medical test (to determine his blood alcohol level) within the stipulated time. They also allegedly allowed him to eat fast food – pizza and hamburgers – while incarcerated and, above all, to drink water, which could compromise the results of medical examinations, if administered as required.

READ | Twist In Porsche Crash: Cops Go Investigate Cops, Pizza, and Hamburgers

Other major points in this shocking investigation include the ridiculous bail conditions set for the teenager in the 15 hours after he crashed the bike and killed Mr Awadhiya and Ms Koshta. The conditions included bonds of Rs 15,000 and a 300-word essay on road safety. These conditions sparked huge outrage, after which the Juvenile Commission changed its decision and sent the boy to a remand center until June 5.

READ | Pune teenager who killed 2 people sent home till June 5

The seriousness of the case prompted police to appeal to the Juvenile Commission for permission to try the boy as an adult, which would mean he could face culpable homicide charges not amounting to murder. For now, he only faces a charge of drunk driving which carries a maximum sentence of six months in prison.

Pune police insisted the boy was not so drunk as to not know what he was doing and was “fully reasonable” at the time of the accident. “There is pressure… we are preparing an absolutely ironclad case to ensure that the accused can go to prison for 10 years,” Mr Kumar said.

The police also cited CCTV footage from one of the bars visited by the Pune teenager and his friends – where they can be seen seated with several bottles of liquor being served – to underline their “impervious” case. The bar – Cosie Bar – was sealed and the owners and staff arrested.

NDTV is now available on WhatsApp channels. Click the link to get all the latest updates from NDTV on your chat.