Porsche crash case: Police to interrogate juvenile for 2 hours today

Pune police to question juvenile accused in Porsche hit-and-run case with permission to establish link between hospital, family; investigation ongoing.

A week after the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) cancelled the bail granted to the 17-year-old who drove his Porsche over two IT professionals allegedly in an inebriated state in the early hours of May 19, Pune police have got the permission to question the juvenile in the presence of his counsellors and members of his family. The accused is presently lodged at the Yerawada Correction Centre.

Porsche crash case: Police to interrogate juvenile for 2 hours today

A senior police officer confirmed the development. He said, “This was imperative considering the gravity of the situation. As we need information from the juvenile in order to investigate the case in detail, we took legal recourse and filed an application at the JJB on Thursday seeking permission to question him.”

The teen will be questioned on Saturday morning for “at least two hours” confirmed officers.

Sources said, according to witness and evidence so far, it is confirmed that the teen was behind the wheels at the time of the accident. Police will also question the accused about who else was present at Sassoon General Hospital when his blood samples were being taken – this will be done to establish the link between doctors at the hospital and family members, who had allegedly engineered the blood sample switch.

Police also confirmed that they are in search of the person who manipulated the CCTV at the juvenile’s home. Earlier, during investigation police had confiscated all CCTV cameras and DVRs installed at his residence; it was found that the footage was tampered with and manipulated.

Meanwhile, after public furore following JJB’s “leniency” shown towards the juvenile as it granted him bail soon after the incident, the State Women and Child Development (WCD) department set up a committee to investigate the conduct of the JJB members in the case. A senior police officer said, they are waiting for the report following which they will question non-judicial members of the board.

Prashant Nanaware, commissioner of WCD, said the department has formulated a syllabus based on the Juvenile Justice Act with the help of Mahatma Gandhi Training Institute (MGTI), Gaziabad, and that they will start training JJB members form next month. “While the members are aware of the act and their role, this is a new initiative to underscore how members should act in critical cases,” said Nanaware.

On Friday, Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) court in Pune remanded the grandfather and father of the juvenile in judicial custody for 14 days. The accused were arrested by the crime branch for their role in the alleged kidnapping and wrongful confinement of their driver who was present in the car at the time of the accident. The duo had allegedly pressured the driver to take the blame in exchange of monetary benefits.