Pune Porsche crash case: MLA's son also involved, claims Maharashtra Cong chief Nana Patole

Maharashtra Congress chief Nana Patole on May 28 claimed that the son of an MLA was also in the Porsche car, along with the 17-year-old accused. Police have claimed that the minor was driving the car under the influence of alcohol while mowing down two techies in Pune.

Briefing the media, Patole further alleged that the MLA, whose son was allegedly involved in the accident, used his influence to cover up the matter, and sought a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation.

Meanwhile, police have arrested the minor's father and grandfather, two doctors, and a peon of the Sassoon Hospital for their alleged role in covering the matter.

Dr Taware, head of the state-run hospital's forensic medicine department, chief medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor, and staff member Atul Ghatkamble were arrested for allegedly throwing away the minor's blood samples, taken after the accident, and replacing them with the samples of another person's blood which had no traces of alcohol.

A three-member committee conducting an inquiry into the alleged manipulation of the blood samples visited the Sassoon hospital and also met police officials who are probing the case.

Elsewhere, Judicial Magistrate First Class A A Pande remanded builder Vishal Agarwal, the teenager's father, in police custody till May 31 in a case where he and his father Surendra Agarwal are accused of putting pressure on the family's driver to take the blame for the accident to shield the boy.

Surendra Agarwal, the minor's grandfather, was already arrested in this case for allegedly kidnapping the driver and putting him in illegal confinement. On Tuesday, Magistrate Pande extended his police custody till May 31.

Vishal Agarwal (50) was earlier arrested under the Juvenile Justice Act for allegedly exposing the minor to danger by giving him a car.

Following Dr Taware's arrest, a 2023 letter from local NCP MLA Sunil Tingre to Maharashtra medical education minister Hasan Mushrif, recommending that the doctor be given additional charge of medical superintendent, has surfaced.

(With PTI inputs)