Pune car accident: Grandfather of minor boy arrested for allegedly forcing driver to take responsibility

People take part in a candlelight vigil to pay condolences to motorcyclists who were killed after being hit by a Porsche car, in Pune. Deposit. | Photo credit: PTI

On May 25, Pune police arrested the grandfather of the 17-year-old young man who rammed a Porsche into two 24-year-old technicians, Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, while he was intoxicated. According to police, the grandfather threatened the family's driver so that he would say he was responsible for the accident. He was also threatened not to tell anyone, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said at a press conference.

“Before the minor's father was arrested, he, along with the minor's grandfather, had offered money and gifts to their family's driver, who was then threatened to take full responsibility for the accident . They are indicted for kidnapping and sequestration of the driver. The driver and his family will get police protection,” Mr. Kumar said.

Read also | Porsche car accident in Pune: MP CM Fadnavis says 15-day welfare service for teenager shocking, review petition filed by police

The 42-year-old driver, in his statement to the police, said that soon after the incident, the minor's grandfather called him and shouted at him. “He was forcefully taken to their bungalow in their BMW car where the minor’s father and grandfather snatched his mobile phone and locked him in a room. The driver was promised a cash reward only if he accepted their offer to take all the responsibility on himself,” Mr. Kumar told reporters.

When the driver was first brought to the police station from the accident site, his first statement was that he was driving the car, which we did not believe, Mr. Kumar said and added: “After a preliminary investigation, we learned that it was the driver of the car. minor who was driving the vehicle. It was then that we registered an offense against the juvenile accused as it was prima facie obvious that he was driving the vehicle.

A Pune court remanded the minor's grandfather to police custody till May 28 and the minor's father, a real estate developer, to judicial custody till June 7. Both are booked under sections 365 of the IPC for kidnapping with intent to secretly and wrongfully confine a person and 368. concealment or unlawful detention.

The latest development in this case is that the youth wing of the Pune Congress organized an essay competition in front of the same pub where the minor allegedly consumed alcohol with his friends. The competition will take place on Sunday morning May 26 and the accident occurred at 2 a.m. on May 19.

“Topics include: What If My Dad Was a Mason, The Side Effects of Alcohol; my favorite luxury car; who killed Ashwini and Anish; and more…,” said Congress native Pune Kasba MP Ravindra Dhangekar.

The case attracted criticism when, 15 hours after the accident that left two people dead, the Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the 17-year-old on one of the conditions of writing a 300 word essay on “Effect of road accidents and their solution'.