A Pune court on Wednesday allowed the Pune city police to interrogate 10 accused involved in the Porsche accident – who are lodged in Yerwada jail – to probe fresh leads received during the investigation so far into the alleged exchange of blood samples taken at the Sasan General Hospital. event
The 10 accused currently in judicial custody at Yerwada Central Jail include the parents of the minor driver, two doctors and an employee of Sassoon Hospital, two middlemen and the father of the minor’s accomplice who are accused of conspiring to exchange blood samples for financial transactions. .
The Pune city police had submitted an application seeking permission to interrogate the 10 accused. The police told the court that they are going to question the accused based on the new information received after arresting the father of two fellow passengers and a person with whom the blood of one fellow passenger had been exchanged. Additional Sessions Judge UM Mudholkar’s court allowed the police plea.
A 24-year-old IT engineer from Madhya Pradesh, Anish Abdiya and his friend Ashwini Koshta, died when a Porsche driven by a 17-year-old youth at a high speed hit a motorcycle at 2.30 am on May 19. This year in Pune’s Kalyaninagar area.
An FIR was registered against the minor car driver at Yerwada police station on the same day. According to the police investigation, when the minor accused was taken to the Government Sassoon Hospital for medical examination after the accident, his blood sample was replaced with that of his mother.
Police later arrested the minor’s 50-year-old realtor father and 49-year-old mother, Sassoon Hospital’s then Head of Forensic Medicine Dr Ajay Taver, then accident medical officer Dr Srihari Halnore and many others. Hospital Mortuary Staff Atul Ghatkamble; and Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, who acted as intermediaries between the minor’s father and doctors. They were charged with evidence tampering, racketeering, criminal conspiracy and corruption. On July 26, the Pune city police filed a chargesheet against seven people in the case and on October 25, the police filed a charge sheet against seven people.
Apart from these seven, the police also arrested a 37-year-old man for allegedly exchanging blood with a minor passenger. A 52-year-old man, the father of another minor passenger, was also arrested earlier for allegedly giving his own blood sample to be exchanged with his son. The prosecution filed a charge sheet against these two on November 15th and a case was filed against both of them on November 25th.
The then-minor driver has been arraigned before the Juvenile Justice Board where he is charged with culpable homicide. An application by the Pune Police to treat him as an adult is currently pending. Police have also arrested the 10th accused in the case, the 47-year-old father of the minor passenger who shared blood with the 37-year-old man who was arrested earlier. The police are yet to file a case against this tenth accused.
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, Dr. Tavere submitted an application for discharge through his lawyer. Argument on the petition is expected to take place at the next hearing.
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