Pune Porsche crash: Doctor who 'changed' teen's blood sample sacked
The chief medical officer of Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, Dr. Shrihari Halnor, has been fired for allegedly manipulating blood samples of the 17-year-old boy involved in the Porsche car accident. The teen, who was reportedly driving the Porsche in an inebriated state, hit a motorbike on May 19, killing two IT professionals. Dr. Halnor and two others are accused of discarding the blood samples of the teen and replacing them with ones that showed no traces of alcohol.
Why does this story matter?
Early Sunday morning, the reportedly inebriated minor drove a Porsche into two motorcycle-borne software engineers, Aneesh Awadhiya (24) and Ashwini Koshta (24), killing them both. The case and the subsequent bail granted to the minor under the Juvenile Justice Act sparked sharp criticism and protests. As part of the bail conditions, the minor was required to work with Yerwada traffic police for 15 days and write an essay on the accident.
JJB's decision amid outrage
Pune Police had then filed a review petition with the Juvenile Justice Board, seeking to try the boy as an adult and review the earlier order. On May 21, the boy's father, a prominent Pune builder, was arrested. The next day, the JJB canceled the 17-year-old's bail and remanded him in custody for 14 days, but withheld a decision on treating him as an adult amid widespread outrage.
Further action expected against two more accused
Suspension orders of the other two—Dr. Ajay Tawade, head of Sassoon Hospital's forensic medicine department, and Atul Ghatkamble, a hospital staffer—are anticipated following a preliminary report from an inquiry committee. Tawade's suspension order is expected to come directly from Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde's office since he is a class one employee. The three were arrested on Monday after an inquiry revealed their alleged involvement in discarding and replacing the blood samples of the minor accused in the Porsche accident.
Arrests made in connection with blood sample tampering
Investigations revealed Ghatkamble was allegedly handed ₹3 lakh by the teen's family to bribe the doctors. According to India Today, Halnor and Ghatkamble confessed to accepting bribes after the police conducted a search of their official houses and recovered the cash. Of the total amount, the Pune Crime Branch recovered ₹2.5 lakh from Halnor and the rest ₹50,000 from Ghatkamble.
Investigation into legal procedures of JJB
Meanwhile, the Maharashtra government has launched an investigation into the conduct of the JJB members who granted bail to the 17-year-old boy just 15 hours after the fatal crash. The five-member committee, led by the Deputy Commissioner of the state's Women and Child Development Department (WCD), will investigate if proper norms were followed when issuing orders in the Pune crash case. The panel is expected to submit its report by next week, an official said.
