Pune Porsche crash | Three accused remanded to police custody till May 24

A Pune court on Tuesday (May 21) remanded three accused - an owner and two managers of different restaurants - in police custody till May 24 in connection with the Porsche car crash allegedly involving a 17-year-old boy that claimed the lives of two persons.

The accused - Naman Pralhad Bhutda, the owner of Cosie restaurant, its manager Sachin Katkar, and the manager of Blak Club hotel Sandip Sangle - were produced before the court.

While seeking their custody for seven days, the prosecution told the court that the establishments owned or managed by the accused served liquor to the boy and his friends without confirming his age.

Hearing the arguments of the prosecution and the defence, Additional Sessions Court Judge SP Ponkshe remanded the three accused in police custody till May 24.

A Porsche car, allegedly driven by the boy, who the police claim was drunk at the time, knocked down two motorbike riders in the Kalyani Nagar area of Pune city in the early hours of Sunday, leading to their death, police said.

The deceased were identified as Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both 24-year-old IT professionals and hailing from Madhya Pradesh.

On the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, the accused juvenile along with his friends went to the two establishments between 9.30 pm and 1 am and allegedly consumed liquor, the police said.

The police have also detained the boy's father, who is a real estate developer. “We have detained the teenager's father from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and he is being brought to Pune and will be arrested in the case registered against him,” Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar said.

Families seek justice

Meanwhile, the grieving family members of the two victims of the car crash in Pune are furious over the perpetrator being granted bail and let off lightly by the Juvenile Justice Board. The duo was killed when their motorbike was hit by a speeding Porsche car driven by a “drunk teenager”.

Akhilesh Awadhiya, an uncle of one of the victims, Aneesh Awadhiya, said, “The accused, a minor, was drunk and was driving at 240 km per hour. He did not have a driving licence. This is murder, not accident.” His grandfather Atmaram Awadhiya said the bail granted to the accused teenager should be cancelled.

The family of the other victim, Ashwini Costa, said they were determined to fight for justice till the end. They said it was condemnable that the accused was given bail within 15 hours, and demanded that he and his parents should be investigated. Ashwini’s uncle, Sachin Bokde, wanted his bail cancelled.

CCTV footage of bar

"The CCTV footage of the bar clearly shows that the juvenile was consuming alcohol. There is no doubt that the juvenile was driving the car after consuming alcohol. We will be submitting all these facts to the court," said the police commissioner.

The police had registered a case against the teenager's father, a real estate developer, under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, and against the owners and staff members of the bar establishments for serving alcohol to an underage person.

The probe in these cases has been transferred to the crime branch, an official earlier said.

The police on Monday (May 20) said they would move a higher court for permission to try the teenager involved in the accident as an adult.

VIP treatment to accused?

Opposition leaders have alleged that the accused teenager was given pizza and burger at the police station during his detention after the accident.

Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut demanded that the Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar be dismissed. He also alleged that an MLA from the Deputy CM Ajit Pawar-led NCP faction was present at the police station when the accused was detained and gave him assistance.

“Police Commissioner should be suspended. He tried to protect the accused. A young couple was killed and the accused was granted bail within two hours. In the video, it can be seen that he was drunk, but his medical report was negative. Who is helping the accused? Who is this Police Commissioner? He should be removed or the people of Pune will come on the streets,” Raut told news agency ANI.

(With agency inputs)