Pune car crash: “Minor’s parents manipulated his blood sample by visiting Sassoon Hospital”

PTI, Jun 2, 2024, 8:30 PM IST

Pune: The parents of a 17-year-old boy allegedly involved in a Porsche car accident tampered with his blood sample by visiting the state-run Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, a court was told on Sunday.

The police made this claim while seeking the remand of the couple in connection with the destruction of evidence related to the May 19 accident, which claimed the lives of two IT professionals. The couple has been remanded to police custody until June 5.

The minor’s mother, Shivani Agarwal, was arrested on June 1, after it emerged that the boy’s blood samples were replaced with hers.

Vishal Agarwal, the boy’s father and a realtor, was previously taken into custody for allegedly destroying evidence related to the case.

Both parents were produced before a holiday court, where police sought a seven-day remand for further investigation.

The police told the court that the parents allegedly conspired and destroyed the evidence related to the car crash.

The Agarwal couple went to the Sassoon Hospital to manipulate the blood samples of their minor son, the police said, adding that the blood sample of the teenager was swapped with that of his mother.

The court was told that police have secured the CCTV footage available at the hospital but also need to verify whether the footage has also been tampered with.

Police said they needed to search the house of the Agarwals and to check whether the footage of the CCTV installed at their property was also manipulated.

The couple’s lawyer, Prashant Patil, argued that the police had already searched their house and recovered CCTV footage, asserting that the couple has cooperated with the investigation and should be sent to judicial custody. The court, however, granted police custody.

The couple was booked under IPC section 201 (causing disappearance of evidence) which is a bailable offence, he said, adding that two doctors and a hospital staffer are already in police custody in connection with the blood sample swap.

Patil argued that the police had recovered the DVR of CCTV installed at the house of the accused.

“It is to be noted that one of the accused is a woman. Both of them (Vishal and Shivani) are cooperative. If required, both persons will be present for the inquiry whenever they are asked to. Thus, instead of police custody, we request them to grant judicial custody,” he said.

The police have registered three separate cases including one for the accident itself, another against a bar that allegedly served alcohol to the minor, and a third involving the boy’s father for allowing him to drive the car without a valid license.

Surendra Agarwal, the boy’s grandfather, was also arrested for allegedly kidnapping and pressuring the family’s driver to take the blame for the accident.