The Aryavarth Express
Agency (Pune): Police suspect financial kickbacks were involved in the alleged replacement of the original blood sample of a juvenile driver involved in the deadly Porsche car crash in Pune. Two doctors from the state-run Sassoon Hospital and a hospital employee were arrested on Monday in connection with the case.
The two doctors, Dr. Ajay Taware, head of the hospital’s Forensic Medicine department, Dr. Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer, and Atul Ghatkamble, who works under Dr. Taware, were remanded in police custody until May 30 by the court of Judicial Magistrate First Class (small causes) A. A. Pande, despite the prosecution’s request for a ten-day custody.
According to the prosecution, the juvenile’s father had instructed one of the doctors to change the blood samples. The police are investigating further to determine who else might have ordered the manipulation of the samples.
The incident in question is the Porsche car crash on May 19, which resulted in the deaths of two IT professionals on a motorbike. The accused juvenile, son of a city builder, was allegedly driving drunk at the time of the crash.
The police have added several sections of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) to the original charges against the juvenile. These include sections 201 (causing the disappearance of evidence), 120-B (criminal conspiracy), 467 (forgery of valuable security), 213 (taking a gift to screen an offender from punishment), and 214 (offering a gift in consideration of screening the offender). Initially, the juvenile was charged under sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 304A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving), and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicle Act.
Public Prosecutor Nilesh Ladkat informed the court that the accused misused their positions for financial gain and destroyed the original blood samples of the juvenile, replacing them with those of other individuals. Ladkat emphasized the need for face-to-face interrogation of the accused to uncover the full extent of the conspiracy and recover any financial transactions involved.
The police have already seized the mobile phones of the accused for technical analysis and are reviewing CCTV footage from Sassoon General Hospital to identify who might have visited the doctors involved in the scandal. Additionally, the police plan to conduct house searches to recover any kickback money and seek custody of the juvenile’s father for further investigation.
Defence counsel Rishikesh Ganu, representing Dr. Halnor, and advocate Sudhir Shah, representing Dr. Taware, argued that the charges under sections 201, 120-B, and others are bailable offenses and opposed the police remand application, claiming there was no need for custodial interrogation since key evidence, such as CCTV footage and mobile phones, had already been secured.
This scandal has raised serious concerns about corruption within the healthcare system and the lengths to which individuals will go to protect influential parties. The ongoing investigation aims to uncover the full scope of the manipulation and bring those responsible to justice.