Porsche crash | Rs 3 lakh ‘paid’ to switch blood sample; govt forms probe panel
Police have arrested Atul Ghatkamble, a peon in the hospital, who allegedly acted as the middleman and collected the bribe on behalf of the doctors
It has reportedly come to light that a bribe of ₹3 lakh was allegedly paid to the two doctors in Sassoon General Hospital to change the blood sample of the juvenile driver involved in the Porsche car crash in Pune on May 19 that resulted in the deaths of two IT professionals.
The police have arrested Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer who works under Dr Ajay Taware, the head of the forensic department in the hospital. He is alleged to have acted as the middleman and collected the bribe on behalf of the doctors. The Crime Branch of Pune Police recovered the ₹3 lakh cash on Monday (May 27) according to a report by News18.
Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said the police investigation also revealed that the juvenile’s father, Vishal Agarwal, called Dr Taware and offered him the bribe to replace the blood sample. Another official from the crime branch told news agency PTI that Agarwal made several calls to Dr Taware.
Pune Police also arrested Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Sassoon Hospital's Forensic Medicine department, and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer. The three arrested from the hospital were remanded in police custody till May 30.
State govt sets up 3-member probe committee
The Maharashtra government has set up a three-member committee to conduct a probe.
Medical Education Commissioner Rajiv Nivatkar on Monday (May 27) issued the order appointing the dean of Grant Medical College and JJ group of hospitals Dr Pallavi Sapale as the chairperson of the committee.
The other members are Dr Gajanan Chavan, professor of the forensic medicine department of Grant Medical College, and Dr Sudhir Chowdhary, Special Duty Officer at Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar Government Medical College and Super Speciality Hospital.
The committee is asked to visit Pune on Tuesday (May 28).
The commissioner has also directed Dr Vinayak Kale, Dean of Sassoon General Hospital, to cooperate with the committee in the probe, as per the order.
(With agency inputs)
