This comes after Pune crime branch team on Tuesday morning detained the father of the teenage driver involved in Sunday’s fatal accident that killed two techies in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.
The father, a prominent builder, is facing charges of giving his son his high-end car to drive despite knowing that the latter did not have a driving licence nor was he trained to drive the car and that his son consumed alcohol. The builder was detained from a lodge in Sambhajinagar, while his driver and associate were picked from a hotel.
The builder attempted to outsmart the cops after fleeing the city. He sent one of his vehicles towards Mumbai and another to Goa. He borrowed a vehicle from an associate but it had a GPS fitted in it.
What happened on the fatal night?
The accident occurred around 2.30am on Sunday when the Porsche Taycan, driven by the 17-year-old at 160kmph speed at the time of the crash, rammed into a motorcycle from behind in Kalyaninagar. The collision claimed the lives of Anish Awadhia and Ashwini Kosta, both 24-year-old techies hailing from Madhya Pradesh.
Before the accident, the teen along with his friends drank alcohol at two pubs in the city – Cosie and Blak Mariott. He spent Rs 48,000 in 90 minutes at Cosie which the teen and his friends visited at 10.40pm on Saturday evening. They left for the second pub, Blak Mariott, at 12.10am after Cosie stopped serving them.
Arrests made so far
The police also arrested Naman Bhutada (25), the owner of the Cosie pub in Mundhwa, and Sachin Kaatkar (35), a staff member at the establishment. Additionally, Sandip Sangle (35), an assistant restaurant manager at the Blak Marriott pub, also located in Mundhwa, has been taken into custody. The minor driver had reportedly visited these establishments to party with his friends before the fateful accident.
Minor’s bail sparks outrage
The teenage driver was arrested by the police, but within 15 hours, he was granted bail by Pune’s Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), which also rejected the police’s request for his trial as an adult. The bail conditions set by the JJB, which included writing a 300-word essay on accidents, painting traffic awareness boards, working with a traffic constable, and attending counseling, sparked outrage among the public. Even Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis expressed shock at the bail conditions, calling them “shocking and surprising” and suggesting that the order needs to be reviewed.
(With agency inputs)
