Multiple cars, new SIM: Teen's father's plan to evade arrest
The father of the Pune teenager who drove a Porsche into a bike—killing two people—had made an intricate escape plan involving multiple cars and a new SIM card to mislead the police. On Monday, an FIR was registered against Vishal Agarwal for allowing his underage son to drive an unregistered Porsche without a license. Soon after, he left home for Mumbai in his car with a driver. Simultaneously, he directed another driver to take his second car to Goa.
Father arrested for permitting underage son to drive
On the way to Mumbai, he switched to a friend's car and continued towards Aurangabad, while his driver continued on the earlier route, attempting to mislead the police about his destination. The realtor also began using a new SIM card. However, once the police learned he was in a friend's car, they started tracking the vehicle via its GPS. A Pune Crime Branch team then identified him using CCTV footage from cameras along the route.
Boy's father, pubs' staff arrested
In a late-night raid at a lodge in Aurangabad, the police arrested the realtor. He is scheduled to appear in court on Wednesday. Separately, on Tuesday, Pune Police arrested Cosie restaurant owner Pralhad Bhutda, manager Sachin Katkar, and Hotel Blak manager Sandip Sangle for allegedly serving alcohol to a juvenile. Both—the boy's father and the pubs—face charges under Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, relating to neglect of minors and supplying them with liquor or narcotics.
2 MP engineers killed in crash
The accident occurred around 2:15am on Sunday when 24-year-olds Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa, both engineers from Madhya Pradesh working in Pune were returning from a get-together. Eyewitnesses reported that the Porsche, which had no number plates, was speeding at over 200km per hour. The minor behind the wheel was detained shortly after, but was released on bail within 15 hours, leading to political and civil society pressure. The case has now been handed to Pune Police's Crime Branch.
Bail conditions of teen
The Pune teen was granted bail after the court said that the crime was not "serious" enough to deny him bail. The bail was, however, granted on certain conditions, including undergoing psychiatric evaluation and treatment, working alongside traffic police for 15 days, and writing a 300-word essay on the "effect of road accidents and their solution," among others.
Police seek to try teen as adult
Meanwhile, in response to the controversial bail decision, police have now moved the Juvenile Justice Board for permission to try the teenager, aged 17 years and eight months, as an adult. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said that they are making a "watertight case." He added, "We have technical evidence coupled with corroborative evidence to make a watertight case to have this accused punished under the relevant sections of the law."
