Congress youth wing organises essay competition at Pune car crash site

PTI, May 26, 2024, 2:29 PM IST

The Congress’s youth wing in Pune organised an essay writing competition on Sunday at the spot of the car crash involving a 17-year-old in which two persons were killed in the city.

The competition was held at the accident site in the Kalyani Nagar area, where two IT professionals died after their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porche allegedly driven by a minor in the early hours of May 19. The police claim that 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.

Around 100 people, mostly youngsters, participated in the essay competition and were given the topics ”My favourite car”, ”If my father was a builder”, and ”Ill effects of alcohol” to write on.

Congress MLA Ravindra Dhangekar of the Kasbha assembly constituency also participated in the competition.

Talking to reporters, Dhangekar said, ”I condemn the incident in which two youngsters lost their lives. The police should take stringent action against pubs and restaurants that operate beyond permitted time to avert such accidents.” Police personnel were deployed in large numbers for the event. The police have arrested the teenager’s father, realtor Vishal Agarwal, and his grandfather, Surendra Agarwal, in connection with the accident.

His father was booked under the Juvenile Justice Act for ”exposing a child to danger” by handing over the car to him while knowing that he had no driving license.

The teen’s grandfather, Surendra Agarwal, was arrested for the ‘illegal confinement’ of the driver.