Porsche car crash: Pune police arrest staffer of Sassoon General Hospital

PTI, May 27, 2024, 5:11 PM IST

The Pune police on Monday arrested another staffer of the Sassoon General Hospital in connection with the Porsche car crash involving a 17-year-old boy, an official said.

Earlier in the day, the police arrested Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Sassoon General Hospital’s Forensic Medicine department and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer of the state-run hospital.

They were arrested for alleged manipulation of blood samples and destruction of evidence in the case, a senior police official said.

The police have arrested Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer of the hospital who works under Dr Taware, the official said.

The three accused were produced before the court, and the police have sought their custody for 10 days, he said.

According to the police, the blood samples of the juvenile were replaced with some other person’s samples, and this was done at the direction of Dr Taware.

On the instructions of Dr Taware, the juvenile’s blood samples were thrown into a dustbin and replaced with the blood samples of another person, they said.

The crime branch is currently probing the case.

Two IT professionals died after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche allegedly driven by the minor in the early hours of May 19.

The police claim the teenager was drunk at the time of the accident.

The teenager was initially granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board, which also asked him to write an essay on road accidents, but following outrage over the lenient treatment and a review application by the police, he was sent to an observation home till June 5.

The police have arrested the teenager’s father, who is a realtor, and his grandfather in connection with the accident.