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Journalism of Courage
Although the alleged blood swap at the Sassoon General Hospital of the minor accused involved in the Porsche car crash has caused a major controversy and several arrests, it remained under wraps that on May 19 the minor accused wasn’t the only one whose blood sample was collected for alcohol tests, then discarded, and swapped with a relative.
As per highly placed sources in the state government, blood samples of two other minors – who were part of the group of youngsters that went to party at bars Cosie and BLAK and were in the car with the minor and the family driver when the accident happened – were also collected for alcohol check but were discarded in the similar fashion and replaced with that of their older relatives.
“There were three other persons, each a relative of the three minors, who also arrived at Sassoon that day. The blood samples of the minors were taken and discarded. The blood samples of the accused juvenile were replaced by a woman’s sample. Those (blood samples) of the other two were replaced with blood samples of the other two persons,” said a senior officer in the state government.
A top source from the hospital added that the juvenile’s blood sample was replaced by his mother’s and the other two minors had theirs replaced by their kin — father of one and brother of another.
Pune police have revealed the identities of the two minors who were with the accused juvenile in the car and belong to the same school although they have not been booked for any wrongdoing. Managers and bartenders of Cosie and BLAK have been booked for serving the group without confirming their age.
All three study in the same class and had been attending the farewell party at their school earlier in the evening. They then decided not to stay back at the party for dinner but left earlier and were found to be partying later at pubs in Kalyani Nagar.
According to sources, the accused juvenile had driven the Porsche to the school also earlier that day and the police had seized the CCTV footage from the school that shows him getting out of the car from the driver’s seat. While the accused minor is the son of a realtor, the other two hail from a business background.
As per sources, the three minors were brought to the Sassoon General Hospital at about 11 am on May 19 to draw blood samples for testing the alcohol levels.
