Porsche crash: Parents, another accused sent in judicial custody
A court here on Friday remanded the parents of the juvenile involved in the Kalyani Nagar Porsche crash and another accused in judicial custody for 14 days after their police remand got over.
Parents Vishal and Shivani Agarwal, and `middleman' Ashpak Makandar are being probed for alleged switching of the teenager's blood samples so as to establish that he was not drunk when the accident took place on May 19.
Makandar is accused of acting as a middleman between the Agarwals and doctors at the Sassoon General Hospital where blood samples are collected in such cases. It is alleged that blood samples of the teenager's mother, Shivani Agarwal, were used as a replacement.
The couple and Makandar were produced before the additional sessions judge on Friday.
The prosecution sought judicial custody for the parents, but demanded another three days' police custody for Makandar.
Investigation showed that he met the parents before the juvenile's blood samples were collected following the early morning accident on May 19, and destruction of the blood samples was discussed at this meeting, it said.
Police also wanted to probe if Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the forensic medicine department of the Sassoon hospital who allegedly first suggested that blood samples can be manipulated, was contacted during or after this meeting, the prosecution said. Taware has been arrested in the case.
Technical evidence and CCTV footage also indicate that Makandar was present at the Yerawada police station (where the accident case was registered), Sassoon hospital, and the Juvenile Justice Board (where the teenager was produced after he was first detained), the prosecution said.
Makandar was allegedly paid Rs 4 lakh by the juvenile's father. He handed over Rs 3 lakh to other accused, but police need to probe to whom he gave remaining Rs 1 lakh, it said.
While builder Vishal Agarwal, the juvenile's father, was arrested on June 21, the mother was arrested on June 1.
Defence lawyer Prasad Kulkarni opposed the plea, stating that the prosecution did not cite any new grounds for Makandar's further custody.
After hearing the arguments, the court remanded the parents and Makandar in judicial custody for 14 days.
Techies Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both 24 years old, were killed after a Porsche car allegedly driven by the 17-year-old rammed into their motorbike in Kalyani Nagar area here.
The teenager, who was allegedly drunk at the time, is lodged in an observation home till June 25.