Nearly 10 days after the Porsche crash took place in Kalyani Nagar area of Pune, killing two young techies, new twists have emerged in the case. There is proof of evidence tampering and attempts to hush up the matter. All attempts have reportedly been made to cover up the juvenile’s involvement in the crime.
The doctors at Pune’s Sassoon General Hospital, who had collected the teen accused’s blood sample have been arrested for destroying evidence and sent to police custody until May 30. There are also claims being made that a Rs 3 lakh bribe was offered to the doctors at the government-run hospital to replace the blood sample.
Maharashtra deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar and one MLA and one state minister from his NCP faction are under fire over allegations that they allegedly tried to interfere in the police case.
Questions were also raised as to why an MLA from Pawar’s NCP faction, Sunil Tingre, had shown up at the Yerawada police station after the minor’s arrest on May 19. There were allegations that he had gone there to put pressure on the police to go soft on the juvenile.
Evidence tampering
Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Sassoon General Hospital’s forensic medicine department and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer of the state-run hospital, along with one more staff member of the hospital have been arrested for allegedly discarding and replacing the blood sample of the accused with another.
According to the police, Dr Halnor collected the minor’s blood samples — the police claim that the 17-year-old was intoxicated at the time of the crash — and then threw them in a dustbin at Sassoon Hospital. Then, along with Dr Taware, a blood sample of another person was taken and sent to the forensic lab with the minor’s name on it.
According to reports, the doctors discarded the blood sample and replaced it after receiving a call from the teen accused’s father and a promise of a Rs 3 lakh bribe.
The police explained that owing to the sensitivity of the case, they had taken one more sample of the accused and sent it to another hospital. The report of the other hospital revealed that the juvenile’s blood report at the Sassoon Hospital was manipulated as the DNA of the two samples did not match, said police sources.
Both the doctors have now been arrested and charged under sections 120 b (criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery), 201 (destruction of evidence), 213 (taking gift or something else to screen an offender from punishment), and 214 (offering gift or restoration of property to screen an offender) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC).
Moreover, the Maharashtra Medical Council has also issued a notice to the doctors, giving them seven days to respond. If the council finds them guilty, it could suspend their medical licences from one day to a lifetime.
Prior to the two doctors being arrested, two police officials have also been suspended on 24 May 24 for delayed reporting of the Porsche car crash and dereliction of duty.
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