Pune car crash: 2 doctors arrested on charges of manipulating blood samples, evidence destruction

Pune: The Pune police have arrested two doctors of the Sassoon General Hospital here for alleged manipulation of blood samples and destruction of evidence in the case of a car accident involving a 17-year-old boy, officials said on Monday.

Those arrested include head of the forensic department of the hospital, they said.

"They have been arrested for alleged manipulation of blood samples and destruction of evidence in the case," a senior police official said.

Those held have been identified as Dr Ajay Taware and Shrihari Harnor, the official said.

The case is currently being probed by the crime branch.

Two IT professionals dead

Two IT professionals died after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche allegedly driven by the minor in the early hours of May 19. Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta both hail from Madhya Pradesh and were working in Pune. Ashwini hailed from Jabalpur, while Anish belonged to Birsinghpur Pali in Umaria district.

Ashwini's father, Suresh Kumar Koshta, said, "The Supreme Court should monitor the investigation and trial in the case to ensure that we get justice."

The police claim the teenager was drunk at the time of the accident.

The teenager was initially granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board, which also asked him to write an essay on road accidents, but following outrage over the lenient treatment and a review application by the police, he was sent to an observation home till June 5.

The police have arrested the teenager's father, who is a realtor, and his grandfather in connection with the accident.

Uproar in Pune

Pune citizens protested against the bail granted to the teenager. There were protests in the city as civil society and Opposition members staged dharna.

Driver tries to take blame

The teenager's grandfather Surendra Agarwal was arrested for `illegal confinement' of the driver, and a court subsequently remanded him in police custody till May 28. The minor's father, in judicial custody in another case registered in connection with the May 19 accident, too was named in the First Information Report.

"After the accident, the driver gave a statement at the Yerawada police station that he was at the wheel....But it was revealed that the teen was driving the car,” police commissioner Amitesh Kumar told reporters.

After the driver left the Yerawada police station, the teenager's father, realtor Vishal Agarwal and his grandfather whisked him in a car to his house on the premises of their bungalow, confiscated his phone and confined him there, the senior police official said.

“He was pressured to give a statement to police as per their directions,” Kumar said, adding that the driver was offered gifts and cash for owning up the crash of the Porsche driven by the teenager, and also threatened.

The Agarwal family offered to pay the driver "any amount he quoted," the commissioner said, adding that his wife reached the place the next day and freed him.

“The driver was frightened. He was summoned and his statement was recorded on Thursday (May 23). After corroboration of facts, an offence was registered against the juvenile’s father and grandfather (on the driver's complaint),” Kumar said.

Vishal Agarwal and his father were booked under Indian Penal Code sections 365 (kidnapping) and 368 (wrongfully concealing or keeping in confinement). Police will seek Vishal's custody in the case from the court on Monday.

(Inputs from PTI)