Pune car crash: Court extends police custody of teen’s parents till June 14

A Pune court on Monday (June 11) extended till June 14 the police custody of the parents of a 17-year-old boy who allegedly knocked down two techies to death with his father’s Porsche, and another accused in a case pertaining to destruction of evidence.

Police seek custodial interrogation

The police told court there is strong possibility the parents of the juvenile destroyed the original blood samples and, therefore, there was need for their custodial interrogation.

The teen's father, realtor Vishal Agrawal, and mother Shivani were arrested in the case for their suspected role in swapping of blood samples of the juvenile, who was allegedly drunk at the time of the May 19 crash in Kalyani Nagar which claimed the lives of two motorbike-borne IT professionals.

Shivani was arrested on June 1 after police found that the boy's blood samples were replaced with hers. Her husband Vishal was arrested for allegedly being involved in destruction of evidence.

Besides the Agrawal couple, one Ashpak Makandar, who acted as a middleman between them and doctors from state-run Sassoon Hospital, where blood samples were collected, were produced before the court on Monday.

While seeking extension of custody of all three accused, including parents, the prosecution told the court that there is strong possibility the parents of the juvenile had destroyed the original blood samples of their son.

‘₹4 lakh paid to swap blood samples’

It told the court that middleman Makandar was paid ₹4 lakh by the driver of the teenager's father. Of this, ₹3 lakh was given further (to Sassoon doctors) for replacing the juvenile's blood samples.

"₹3 lakh has been recovered from Dr Srihari Halnor and Sassoon Hospital employee Atul Ghatkamble and we need to recover the remaining ₹1 lakh," said the investigating officer.

It also said since all the accused are there, the prosecution wants to make them confront each other.

Investigations have revealed the blood samples of the juvenile were replaced with those of the mother at the Sassoon General Hospital on May 19.

Two doctors and one staffer of Sassoon Hospital have already been arrested in the case and they are currently in judicial custody.

Defence lawyer Prashant Patil opposed the custody extension plea of the teen's parents, saying they have already spent several days in police remand and there was no need for their further custodial interrogation.

The minor boy is in an observation home.

(With inputs from agencies)