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The Pune Porsche accident case has taken a new turn with the emergence of new CCTV footage showing an employee of the Sassoon General Hospital allegedly receiving a bribe to swap the juvenile driver's blood samples.
The CCTV camera footage, recorded in the Yerwada area, shows a middleman, Ashpak Makandar, handing over the bribe to hospital employee Atul Ghatkamble. Ghatkamble was already arrested along with the hospital’s suspended forensics department head, Dr Ajay Taware, and former casualty medical officer, Dr Shrihari Halnor, for allegedly changing the blood samples of the minor.
According to the police, the 17-year-old boy's blood sample was taken on May 19 - hours after the incident - at the Sassoon General Hospital. However, when the police suspected the manipulation of the blood sample, another was taken at the Aundh Government Hospital. Shortly after this, a third blood sample of the juvenile's father was taken for DNA matching, which revealed that the first sample was manipulated.
The police have arrested the accused's parents in connection with a case related to the alleged swapping of his blood samples. The incident took place on May 19 in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area when the 17-year-old boy - who was driving a Porsche - collided with a motorcycle, killing two techies identified as Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa.
Based on the CCTV footage, the police said that the minor boy was driving the Porsche at a speed of 160 kmph at the time of the accident. According to the police, the teenager—the son of well-known builder Vishal Agrawal—had thrown a party for his friends on Saturday night to celebrate his Class 12 results. The group was drinking at restaurants in the city and driving around at night.
The police have registered three separate cases in connection with the incident, including - an FIR over the accident, a second one against a pub that allegedly served liquor to the juvenile and the accused's father for allowing him to drive the car without a valid license. A third case has also been registered in connection with the wrongful confinement and coercion of the family driver to take the blame for the fatal accident - in which the accused's grandfather has been arrested.
Meanwhile, the JJB on Wednesday extended the accused's observation home remand until June 25. Earlier, he was kept in the observation home remand until June 12. According to the police, the teen's release at the current juncture may hinder the ongoing investigation into the case.