Nagpur hit-and-run: Cops now say CCTV footage of bar missing

Nagpur police admit missing CCTV footage in a hit-and-run involving BJP chief Bawankule’s son. Two friends arrested; alcohol confirmed in their systems.

NAGPUR: The Nagpur hit-and-run case took a curious turn when the city police admitted that the CCTV footage of the bar visited by Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s son Sanket and his friends, before his Audi crashed into several vehicles, is missing.

HT Image

The car was allegedly being driven by Sanket’s friend Arjun Hawre when it hit several vehicles in Ramdaspeth and other areas of Nagpur in the early hours of Monday. Occupants of another car (a Volkswagen Polo) that was hit chased down the Audi at Mankapur T-Point, apprehended Hawre, one Ronit Chittwamwar, and a son of a Congress leader, and handed them over to the police. Hawre was arrested on Monday night and later released on bail.

“The CCTV footage of the time when they were at La Horee Deluxe bar (before the crash) is missing. We seized the bar’s DVR on Wednesday and sent it for forensic analysis,” said senior police inspector of Sitabuldi police station, Chandrashekhar Chakate. La Horee manager had on Tuesday refused to hand over the CCTV footage and the electronic equipment to a probe team, he said. The bar management relented after being warned of legal action. “However, we realised there was no footage since Sunday night. Further probe is underway,” Chakate added.

Meanwhile, the hit-and-run case gained significant attention due to Sanket’s involvement, especially at a time when state assembly elections are due in a couple of months. The opposition lapped up the hit-and-run issue to target BJP, and severely criticised Nagpur police’s delay in investigating the case, apart from alleging that the police were trying to protect the state BJP chief’s son.

Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, has rejected these allegations. Speaking to media in Akola on Friday, he said, “I am not putting any pressure on police for my son. I never called the police, I only asked for information once. Even when Union home minister Amit Shah visited Maharashtra recently, I did not raise the case with him.”