Pune Porsche crash: Blood report on liquor not important, minor committed offence in full senses, says police commissioner

“We are building a water tight case. We are collecting solid evidence. We are focusing on technical evidence,” the police commissioner added.

Two IT engineers were killed after a speeding Porsche car driven by a 17-and-a-half-year-old boy in an inebriated state hit their motorcycle at Pune’s Kalyani Nagar junction around 2.30 am on May 19.

An FIR was registered against the boy at the Yerwada police station on the same morning. Nearly eight hours after the accident, around 11 am, his blood samples were collected and sent to a forensic lab to confirm whether he had consumed liquor while the offence was committed, a police officer said.

While there are allegations that the police caused a delay in the collection of the minor boy’s blood samples, Kumar told reporters, “We have not received the blood report yet. But I repeat that the blood report is not important for us.”

The police claim to have evidence of liquor consumption against the minor boy, which includes CCTV footage and bills from two restaurants where the minor boy, son of a prominent realtor, had been allegedly drinking with his friends before the accident.

However, the police invoked section 185 of the Motor Vehicle Act (MVA), pertaining to the drink and drive offence, against the boy on Tuesday evening. Initially they had booked him under India Penal Code sections 304, 304A, 337, 338, 427 and 279 as well as MVA sections 184 and 119/177.

On Wednesday, the Juvenile Justice Board of Pune sent the minor boy to an observation home till June 5.

There was massive outrage after the board on May 19 granted bail to the minor boy on conditions that he would “write an essay of 300 words” on road accidents and their solutions. The board also directed him to “assist RTO officers and practise and study traffic rules for 15 days”.

The police then invoked MVA section 185 in the case and filed a review application against the bail granted to the minor boy.

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The police commissioner said that generally IPC section 304A (causing death by negligence) is invoked in accident cases. “But considering the heinous nature of the incident, we have invoked IPC section 304, which deals with culpable homicide and provides punishment of up to 10 years of imprisonment,” he said.

Police plea to try minor boy as adult

On May 19 the police submitted an application before the Juvenile Justice Board seeking permission to try the boy as an adult. As the application was rejected, they have moved the Pune district court, which has referred the matter back to the board, to be decided again as per the provisions of the Juvenile Justice Act.

The arguments on the plea did not take place on Wednesday, but the application was taken on the record, officials said. The board is expected to rule on it at a later date, after the completion of various procedures stipulated under the Juvenile Justice Act.

There was massive outrage after the board on May 19 granted bail to the minor boy on conditions that he would “write an essay of 300 words” on road accidents and their solutions. (Express Photo)

Meanwhile, the police have also arrested the boy’s father for allegedly giving him a car without number plates and money despite knowing that he drinks and was a minor without a driving licence.

The police have also arrested the owners and managers of the two Pune restaurants, Cosie and Blak, where liquor was allegedly served to the minor boy before the accident, in which Aneesh Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Koshta, both 24 and from Madhya Pradesh, died.

A separate FIR was lodged against the father and owners and managers of the two restaurants under sections of the Juvenile Justice Act and the MVA. A court has remanded them in police custody till Friday.