Pune Porsche accident case: Maharashtra govt forms three-member committee to probe blood sample manipulation

The committee has been formed following the arrest of two doctors and an employee of Sassoon Hospital. The committee will investigate their role in this case.

This committee will go to Sasoon Hospital on May 28 and investigate the entire matter. Later, it will submit a report to the state government

Members of the committee

Dr Pallavi Saple of Mumbai’s JJ Hospital will chair the 3-member committee. Dr Gajanan Chauhan (HOD, department of jurisprudence, JJ Hospital) and Dr Sudhir Chaudhary (Dean, Sambhajinagar Government Hospital) are the other members of the committee,

Crucial arrest in the case

Earlier in the day two doctors, Dr. Shrihari Harnor and Dr. Ajay Taware, along with Atul Ghatkamble, an employee of the Hospital were remanded in police custody till May 30 by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (small causes) A A Pande.

The Police suspects financial transactions in the form of 'kickbacks' had taken place in the alleged replacement of the original blood sample of the juvenile driver involved in the Porsche car crash with another person's sample by the two doctors.

The prosecution said that the juvenile's father had called one of the doctors and asked him to change the samples, adding that police wanted to investigate who else had given the instructions to manipulate the samples.

New sections added in juvenile's case

Meanwhile, police have added sections 201, 120-B, 467, 213 and 214 of the IPC to the original offences, sections 304, 304 A, 279 and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act, registered against the juvenile.

The latest added sections pertain to charges of causing the disappearance of evidence, criminal conspiracy, forgery of valuable security, taking a gift, etc, to screen an offender from punishment, and offering a gift or restoration of property in consideration of screening the offender, respectively.

What is the case?

Notably, two IT professionals died after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche allegedly driven by the drunk minor in the early hours of May 19.

The teenager was initially granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board, which also asked him to write an essay on road accidents. But after the public outcry over the lenient treatment and a review application by the police, he was sent to an observation home till June 5. The crime branch is currently probing the case.

The police have arrested the teenager's father, who is a realtor, and his grandfather in connection with the accident.