The 17-year-old boy, who fatally knocked down two young IT professionals with his luxury Porsche car on May 19, reportedly admitted to the Pune Police that he was heavily drunk while driving when the accident occurred. India Today, citing police sources, said during the questioning, the teen told officials that he did not remember all the incidents completely.
Hindustan Times earlier reported that through the interrogation, which lasted over an hour (11:30am to 12:30pm), the teen told the Pune Police that as he was drunk at the time of the accident, he could not remember anything. He was questioned in the presence of his mother, who was arrested on Saturday, and crime branch officials, including assistant commissioner of police Sunil Tambe and district child protection officer, .
Despite efforts to elicit information, the juvenile remained tight-lipped during questioning, said police told HT.
“Our officials asked the minor about his location before the accident, his presence in Blak and Cosie pubs, driving the Porsche, details of the accident, tampering of evidence, collection of blood samples and medical tests. To all the questions, the minor had a single answer – that he had no memory of anything as he was drunk,” said a crime branch official. Initial probe had revealed that the minor and his friends had consumed alcoholic drinks at the two pubs where they ran a cumulative bill of ₹48,000.
Meanwhile, The Times of India, citing Pune commissioner of police (CP) Amitesh Kumar, reported that the minor driver’s mother, who was arrested on Saturday on the charge of giving her blood sample in place of her son’s, told cops that the doctors of Sassoon General Hospital had told her to give her blood as a sample instead of the boy’s.
“We have recorded the statement of the woman (49). She told us that the doctors of the hospital had told her to give her blood as sample instead of her son’s. She feigned ignorance on why the doctors told her so,” The Times of India quoted Amitesh Kumar as saying.
On Sunday, a Pune court remanded the parents of the boy in police custody till June 5 in a case pertaining to the destruction of evidence.
The duo is being probed for their alleged role in tampering with the blood sample of the minor following the car accident on May 19 in Maharashtra’s Pune city, which claimed the lives of two IT professionals.
The minor’s mother, Shivani Agarwal, was arrested on June 1 after the revelation that the boy’s blood samples were replaced with hers.
The Pune Police had taken custody of his father, realtor Vishal Agrawal, arrested earlier in a related case, for allegedly being involved in the destruction of evidence. The police produced the duo before a holiday court in Maharashtra’s Pune city and sought their remand, which was allowed till June 5.
The police told the court that the Vishal Agarwal couple conspired and destroyed the evidence related to the accident.
They went to a state-run hospital and manipulated the blood samples of the minor, as per the police. The couple’s lawyer, Prashant Patil, submitted that the police have already searched their house and recovered the footage of CCTV camera installed at their place.
They have been booked under IPC section 201 (causing disapperance of evidence of offence), which is a bailable offence. Hence, they should be sent to judicial custody, Patil said.
Besides the minor’s parents, the police have also arrested his grandfather, Surendra Agarwal, for allegedly kidnapping the family’s driver and putting pressure on him to take the blame for the accident, among other charges.
The other persons in the police custody are two doctors of the state-run Sassoon General Hospital and an employee for allegedly swapping the blood samples of the mino.
The police have registered three separate cases in connection with the car accident. The three cases include an FIR in connection with the accident and the second one against the bar that allegedly served liquor to the juvenile.
The police have booked the boy’s father for allowing him to drive the car without a valid licence.
A third case is about the wrongful confinement and coercion of the family driver to take the blame for the accident.