Porsche crash case: CM Shinde, DCMs called me; Govt wants strict action, says Pune police commissioner

While talking to reporters on Tuesday, Amitesh Kumar said, “We have received calls from the Chief Minister (Eknath Shinde), Deputy Chief Minister and Home Minister (Devendra Fadnavis), Deputy Chief Minister and Guardian Minister (Ajit Pawar), and the Director General of Police. All of their directions are very clear that the police have to take the strictest possible stand in this case, to clear the doubts in the minds of people that the police are not taking strict action”.

“The government’s stand is that stringent action be taken against those responsible for the accident in which two lives have been lost. We have been acting on the same lines since day one. There is no pressure on the police from anyone,” added the Pune police commissioner.

Responding to a question about Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut’s comment that action should be taken against him for allegedly “trying to save the minor“, Amitesh Kumar said, “I have not heard the said statement but I maintain that I can go on an open panel discussion against any legal expert who says that action stringent that what we have taken is possible in the case.”

This is the second time Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar has denied his department was under pressure to play down the offences in the Pune Porsche accident case involving the 17-year-old. On Monday, he told The Express, “Absolutely not. We are under no pressure. There is no question of it. In fact, we have applied a stringent section… we have applied Section 304 of IPC relating to culpable homicide not amounting to murder” while pointing out they want the accused to be tried as an adult since it was a heinous crime

He said the Pune police will also probe allegations of the mistreatment of the members of the families of Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both 24, and alleged favouritism shown to the accused minor. “We have received complaints of this nature. We have appointed an officer to probe these allegations. In the preliminary discussion with the family members of the deceased, they have said that no such thing has happened”.

“Our stand is clear, if any police officer or staffer is found to have helped the accused or has mistreated family members of the deceased, stringent action will be taken against them.”

The probe will also include the allegations of the local MLA trying to influence the case, Kumar said in response to a question. “As I said, an officer, who is of the ACP rank, has been assigned to conduct an inquiry into this. The CCTV footage at the police station and surrounding areas are being examined,” he said.

The Pune police commissioner was referring to NCP MLA Sunil Tingre, under whose constituency the accident too place early on Sunday. Tingre, the Yerwada MLA, has been accused of intervening in the Pune Porsche accident case to ensure that the minor accused gets favourable treatment from the police.

The minor was granted bail hours after the accident killed Awadhiya and Koshta by a judicial magistrate. According to the minor’s lawyer, his client has been asked to “work with the traffic police of Yerwada for 15 days” and “write an essay” on the accident.

On Monday, the Pune police said the boy, who was allegedly driving the luxury car, had consumed alcohol hours before the accident took place. They have also detained the boy’s father, a prominent realtor in the city who has been booked under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act on the charges of allowing his minor son to drive the Porsche and consume liquor.