The Maharashtra government has given sanction to prosecute three public servants, including two doctors and a staffer at the Sassoon General Hospital, in the Porsche crash case in Pune. Special public prosecutor Shishir Hiray confirmed that the government authorities concerned have given sanction to prosecute Dr Ajay Taware, former head of the Forensic Medicine Department of Sassoon Hospital, Dr Shrihari Halnor, the casualty medical officer (CMO) at the time, and Atul Ghatkamble, a morgue staff at the hospital, as per provisions of Section 197 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC). Hiray said the sanction letter was submitted to a court in Pune on Thursday. Two IT engineers Aneesh Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Koshta, both 24 and from Madhya Pradesh, were killed after a speeding Porsche driven by a 17-year-old boy allegedly in an inebriated state hit their motorcycle at Pune’s Kalyani Nagar junction around 2.30 am on May 19 this year. Same day, a first information report (FIR) was lodged against the minor car driver at the Yerwada police station. The police investigation revealed that when the minor accused was taken to the government-run Sassoon Hospital after the accident for a medical examination, his blood sample was allegedly replaced with his mother’s. Police then arrested seven persons, including the parents of the minor boy, Dr Taware, Dr Halnor, Ghatkamble and private persons Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad. According to the police, Makandar and Gaikwad allegedly acted as “middledmen” between the minor’s parents and doctors at Sassoon Hospital. Police said Makandar allegedly took Rs 4 lakh from the minor’s father at a hotel in Kalyani Nagar and gave it to the Sassoon staffers for changing blood samples. Police said they have recovered Rs 2.5 lakh from Dr Halnor and Rs 50,000 from Ghatkamble. The remaining Rs 1 lakh is yet to be recovered. On July 25, police had filed a preliminary chargesheet of about 900 pages against seven accused persons. Now that the sanction to prosecute the three public servants has been received, the prosecution would now begin the process of framing charges against the seven accused. Meanwhile, a DNA report on August 9 confirmed that blood samples of the two friends of the minor were also swapped at Sassoon hospital. Both friends, who too are minors, were in the Porsche at the time of the accident. Police booked the fathers of both friends and a private person in this case. One of them was arrested for allegedly giving his blood sample to replace it with his son’s. Blood sample of the second friend was allegedly swapped with that of a private person as per the instructions of his father. The person in question was arrested, while the father’s application seeking anticipatory bail was rejected by the Bombay High Court. Police had submitted a “final report” against the minor driver at the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on June 17 and the “supplementary final report” on September 26.
