Pune Porche Crash: The Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) has on Friday granted permission to the police to investigate the minor allegedly involved in the car crash in Pune that claimed the lives of two IT professionals. The cops had written to the authorities to probe the 17-year-old, who is currently held in an observation home. The Juvenile Justice Act mandates that any inquiry involving a minor must be conducted in the presence of their parents.
According to the police, the teenager was driving the luxury car while intoxicated when it slammed two tech professionals on a motorbike in Kalyani Nagar in the early hours of May 19.
Shailesh Balkawade, additional Commissioner of Police (crime), informed that the JJB heard the plea seeking permission to question the minor, and it allowed the probe.
In another development, retired IAS officer Arun Bhatia has written to the Chairman of the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission (MHRC) asking for the transfer of Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar. Bhatia has called for an investigation into Kumar’s conduct, noting that he represents the city’s police force.
Expressing distrust in the authorities, he said, “The present Police Commissioner cannot be relied upon to do this.”
Bhatia has urged an investigation into the appointment of the Chief Medical Officer, who was allegedly influenced by a politician, and has demanded that the Health Secretary be punished.
Following the incident, the accused minor was released after a few hours and instructed to write a 300-word essay on road safety. However, due to a nationwide outcry, the police approached the JJB again, which then revised its decision and placed the teenager in an observation home until June 5.
The father and grandfather of the teenager have been arrested and remain in custody for 14 days on charges of detaining the family’s driver after the accident, offering him money and gifts to take the blame and protect the minor, and threatening him.
The police have also arrested two doctors and a staff member from Sassoon General Hospital for allegedly tampering with the teenager’s blood samples to falsely indicate that he was not intoxicated at the time of the accident.