Porsche Taycan was grandfather's 'birthday gift' for Pune teenager: report

The Porsche Taycan, involved in the accident that killed two people in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area, was reportedly gifted to the 17-year-old boy, who was driving it, by his grandfather Surendra Agrawal. Pune police on Saturday arrested the minor's grandfather for allegedly kidnapping and forcing the family's driver to take responsibility for the accident that killed IT professionals Ashwini Koshta and Aneesh Awadhiya on May 19.

Surendra Agrawal had shared a photo of the luxury car on a WhatsApp group two months ago, stating that it was a birthday gift for his grandson. India Today TV reported quoting Aman Wadhwa, a friend of the miner's grandfather.

Earlier, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the Agarwals allegedly lured the driver, Gangaram Poojari, with cash to claim responsibility for the minor's accident. When he did not agree, they threatened him and locked him in their home for two days.

Kumar said the driver – now a key witness in the case – was forced to state that he was behind the wheel of the luxury car at the time of the accident in a bid to save the minor boy, but he refused to oblige him. .

According to the commissioner, after the accident, Surendra Kumar Agarwal and his son builder Vishal Agarwal – currently in judicial custody for 14 days – went to pick up the driver (Pujari) who was returning home.

They confiscated his cell phone, locked him in a room and forbade him to go out or speak to anyone.

“After the accident, the driver told Yerawada police station that he was behind the wheel… But it was revealed that it was the teenager who was driving the car,” Superintendent of Police Amitesh Kumar told reporters. journalists.

After the driver left the Yerawada police station, the teenager's father, real estate agent Vishal Agarwal, and his grandfather took him in a car to his home in their bungalow, confiscated his phone and confined him there, the senior police official said.

“He was pressured to give a statement to the police as per their instructions,” Kumar said, adding that the driver was offered gifts and money for admitting to the car accident. Porsche driven by the teenager, and that he had also been threatened.

The Agarwal family offered to pay the driver “any amount he told them”, the commissioner said, adding that his wife reached the spot the next day and released him.

“The driver was scared. He was summoned and his statement was recorded on Thursday, May 23. After corroborating the facts, an offense was registered against the minor’s father and grandfather (on the driver’s complaint),” Kumar said.

Earlier this week, a local politician had accused Surendra of having links with gangster Chhota Rajan.

Vishal Agarwal and his father were booked under sections 365 (kidnapping) and 368 of the Indian Penal Code (concealment or unlawful detention).

The police will seek judicial custody of Vishal in the case from the court on Monday.

The driver told police that he was not driving the car when it hit two IT professionals on a motorcycle in Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19, the commissioner said.

The driver and his family will be given police protection, Kumar added.

The investigation carried out so far has shown that the minor, while drunk, was driving the car, the commissioner had earlier said.