In what could be termed a failure of Pune Police, the court on Friday sent all six accused in the Porsche crash case, including the juvenile's father Vishal Agarwal, to judicial custody until June 7.
The prosecution had demanded an extension of their police custody for further investigation. However, the court rejected this request and remanded Agarwal and the others, including the owners and employees of two liquor-serving establishments where the juvenile allegedly consumed alcohol before his Porsche knocked down two software professionals in Kalyani Nagar on Sunday, to judicial custody instead.
The court had earlier, on Wednesday, remanded Agarwal and the others to police custody until May 24.
The police registered a case against Agarwal under Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, and against the owner and employees of the two bars that the boy had visited before the accident for "serving alcohol to an underage person." Section 75 deals with "willful neglect of a child, or exposing a child to mental or physical illnesses," while Section 77 deals with supplying a child with intoxicating liquor or drugs.
Earlier in the day, Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar made a shocking revelation, stating that there were attempts to tamper with evidence to show that the juvenile wasn't driving at the time of the crash. Kumar claimed to have evidence proving that the juvenile was driving the luxury car.
"Attempts were made to show that an adult, the family driver, was at the wheel and not the teen when the vehicle fatally knocked down two persons in the Kalyani Nagar area around 3am on Sunday. It is true that at the start, the driver had said that he was driving the car. We are investigating this part and also under whose pressure the driver made that statement," said Kumar.
"Based on technical and CCTV evidence, it is confirmed that the car was being driven by the juvenile. Eyewitnesses have also corroborated that the teenager was driving the Porsche at the time of the accident," he added.
"We are investigating these matters and will take action against those who made such attempts, under section 201 (destruction of evidence) of the IPC," the police chief further said.
(With inputs from agencies)
