Porsche crash case | ‘Strong possibility’ that parents destroyed original sample of blood: Cops to court

The police have earlier arrested Dr Ajay Taware, the then Head of the Forensic Medicine Department of the state-run Sassoon Hospital, Dr Shrihari Halnor, who was the Casualty Medical Officer (CMO) at the time, and Atul Ghatkamble a staffer at the morgue, for allegedly changing the minor’s blood sample in return for financial favours. The trio have since been placed under suspension and are currently in judicial custody. The police had on June 1 arrested the 49-year-old mother and had taken custody of the 50-year-old father from judicial remand for their alleged involvement in blood sample swapping.

In their remand application to the court, the Pune police said they have strong suspicion that the father and mother of the minor were not revealing what they did to the original sample but that there is a ‘strong possibility’ that they destroyed the original sample of the minor taken after the accident.

The police also told the court that they have a witness who was allegedly given Rs four lakh by the father of the minor to be given to Makandar and his accomplice Amar Gaikwad, who further gave the money to Sassoon staffers. Police told the court that of these Rs four lakh, Rs three lakh have been recovered–Rs 2.5 lakh from Dr Halnor and Rs 50,000 from Ghatkamble. Police said that further custody of the accused was required to investigate what happened to the remaining Rs one lakh. The police also told the court they wanted further custody of the accused to investigate their role in the crime with the various technical evidence gathered during the investigation.

Defence lawyer for the parents, Adv Prashant Patil, opposed the police plea seeking extension. He claimed that the reasons sought by the police for the extension of the remand were the same as those cited in the previous two applications. He pressed for the judicial custody of the two saying they have been fully cooperating with the investigation and the police can question them further if required.

Meanwhile, Adv Patil has moved a court in Pune seeking bail of the father in the case registered against him under the Juvenile Justice Act.