Mumbai: The Porsche car accident in Pune on May 19 in which two young engineers were mowed down by a drunk minor son of a local builder has become a major political issue in Maharashtra. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said if a truck driver was involved in a fatal accident he would have been immediately arrested.
But in the Pune case, the accused was treated with kid gloves by the police justice because his father was a builder. He alleged that the well heeled were supported by the BJP-led Maha Yuti government in Maharashtra. Stung by this criticism, deputy CM and senior BJP leader Devendra Fadnavis, who is in charge of the home portfolio asked Rahul Gandhi not to politicise the accident.
The Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) has slammed the Maha Yuti government in general and Fadnavis in particular for allegedly helping the minor boy by invoking softer sections of law. Opposition leader in State assembly, and senior Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar targeted the Pune police for allegedly introducing gaping holes in the investigation with a view to help the minor boy, who spent Rs 48,000 in a pub in Kalyani Nagar of Pune, before getting behind the wheel of the Porsche.
Wadettiwar also demanded a probe by Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unearth all the ramifications of the accident. He wondered why an SIT has been constituted for the Ghatkopar billboard tragedy and not in the Porsche case. He alleged that proper sections of law were not applied in the Porsche case. He alleged that the Pune police was misleading the people.
A 17 year old boy and son of a well known builder was arrested for killing two youths in a car accident on Sunday morning at Kalyani area of Pune. According to police reports, a luxury Porsche, driven by the 17-year-old, collided with a motorcycle, instantly killing Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta. The crash, captured on CCTV, revealed that the car was being driven at 200 kmph and that too in a narrow road at night.
Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both IT engineers, were returning from a get-together when around 2:15 am, their bike was hit from behind by the speeding Porsche. Both of them died on the spot.
The aftermath of the incident has been marked by intense public outcry, particularly following the Juvenile Justice Board's decision to grant the minor bail just 15 hours after his detention. The board also imposed a series of rehabilitative conditions, including mandatory counselling, a de-addiction program, and a 300-word essay on road safety. This lenient response has been widely criticised given the severity of the accident.
Sanjay Raut of Shiv Sena (UBT) demanded the immediate suspension of Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar for the gross mishandling of the incident. He accused the Pune police of corruption. He said for long residents of Kalyani Nagar, where the pub patronised by the minor situated, have been complaining to Amitesh Kumar about the nuisance caused by a large number of pubs in their neighbourhood. But, Amitesh Kumar failed to take any action.
With the controversy attracting high traction in the social media, Fadnavis visited Pune yesterday unannounced and summoned Amitesh Kumar for a meeting to review the probe into the accident. However, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Ambadas Danve alleged that Fadnavis' visit was aimed at helping the minor accused and his family.
He noted that Fadnavis visited Pune only after there was an uproad in the social media. 'Was Fadnavis' visit to Pune meant to hide the blunders of police? Danve noted that the police had not taken any action when the son of a senior bureaucrat misbehaved with a woman in Navi Mumbai some months ago. "Why Fadnavis did not act then?" he asked.
He alleged that local MLA Sunil Tingre of the NCP (Ajit Pawar) had put pressure on the police. Danve said Tingre had visited the police station on the night of the accident. He said Ajit Pawar should explain the conduct of his party MLA.
Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) leader Prakash Ambedkar targeted the Pune police for making inquiries into the relationship between the two victims of the accident instead of focussing on the crime. He said the Yerawada police spent more time questioning people about the nature of the relationship between the victims than grilling the 17 year old culprit.
Ambedkar noted that alcohol test was conducted on the minor full eight hours after the incident. The police also treated the drunk youth to pizza that night. Said a BJP leader in confidence. "The incident has shown the home department under Fadnavis in very poor light. Its high time Fadnavis weeded out corruption elements from the force. Recently, a policeman and his asssociates committed daylight dacoity in the house of a Mumbai hotelier and vanished with Rs 25 lakhs in cash."
