Porsche car crash: 'Juvenile's blood sample changed to show no trace of alcohol'; 2 doctors held

Pune: Pune Police investigating the Porsche car crash case on Monday said the blood samples of the juvenile driver were thrown into a dustbin and replaced with another person's samples which showed no traces of alcohol and arrested two doctors of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital.

Another person was also arrested for his alleged links with Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Sassoon Hospital's Forensic Medicine department and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer of the state-run hospital.

"The juvenile's father had called the doctor and offered him allurements to replace the blood samples," Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said at a press conference here on Monday.

As the juvenile's blood samples were replaced, the report which was received on Sunday from the hospital showed no traces of alcohol, he said.

Two IT professionals were killed after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche allegedly driven by the minor boy in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar area of Pune city. The police claim the teenager was drunk at the time of the accident.

In separate developments, a court allowed the police to take custody of Vishal Agarwal, the realtor father of the 17-year-old involved in the car crash, from the Yerwada Central Jail in connection with the case of kidnapping and wrongful confinement of his driver.

A team of representatives from Porsche reached the Yerwada police station on Monday to conduct a technical inspection of the luxury car involved in the crash, an official said.

"Dr Ajay Taware and Dr Shrihari Halnor have been arrested. The investigation revealed that the blood samples of the juvenile were replaced with some other person's samples and this was done on the direction of Dr Taware," said Amitesh Kumar.

On the instructions of Dr Taware, the juvenile's blood samples were thrown into a dustbin and replaced with the blood samples of another person, he said.

"The investigation also revealed that it was the juvenile's father who had called Dr Ajay Taware and offered him allurements to replace the blood samples," Kumar said.

Another police official from the crime branch told PTI that the juvenile's father made multiple calls to Dr Taware.

Kumar said the manipulation of the blood sample came to light after another sample of the juvenile taken for DNA sampling was sent to another hospital.

"The report of the other hospital revealed the juvenile's blood report at the Sassoon Hospital was manipulated as the DNA of (blood samples of) both the reports did not match," he said.

He said a probe is underway to find out whose blood samples were collected to replace those of the juvenile and CCTV footage of the Sassoon Hospital was recovered.

The police commissioner also said that Indian Penal sections 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence), 120 B (criminal conspiracy) and other relevant sections have been added to the case in which the juvenile has been booked.

"We have made the juvenile's father co-accused in the present case," he said.

A police officer said the court allowed the police to take custody of Vishal Agarwal from the Yerwada Central Jail in connection with the case of kidnapping and wrongful confinement of his driver.

Agarwal is in judicial custody in a case registered against him and the managers and owners of two pubs under the Juvenile Justice Act and is lodged in the central jail.

"The court has allowed the application for the production warrant of the juvenile's father, and he will be taken into custody from the jail," said a police officer from Pune police.

The police had registered a case against Vishal Agarwal and his father, Surendra Agarwal, for the 'illegal confinement' of their driver and arrested them.

According to police, the father and grandfather put pressure on the family’s driver to take the blame for the accident by offering him money and giving him threats.

Meanwhile, a team of representatives from Porsche conducted a technical inspection of the vehicle along with officials from the regional transport office, said Sanjiv Bhor, the regional transport officer.

Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar had earlier said the car was imported in March by a dealer in Bengaluru, and from there, it was sent to Maharashtra on a temporary registration.

The permanent registration of the vehicle had been pending since March due to the non-payment of Rs 1,758 fees by the owner, transport officials had said.

Deputy Chief Minister and Pune district guardian minister Ajit Pawar on Monday termed the action of the local builder's son of mowing down two people as "highly irresponsible".

"This happened because of the ignorance of the parents (of the juvenile) which resulted in the death of the two innocent young professionals," he said.

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