Show no mercy in Pune car crash case, top ministers tell cops

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis have instructed the police to take stringent action in the Pune Porsche crash incident involving a 17-year-old boy accused of running over and killing two people while driving intoxicated, the city police chief said on May 21.

The high-end luxury car knocked down two motorbike riders – Anis Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa, both 24-year-old IT professionals from Madhya Pradesh – in the Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19, killing them on the spot, according to officials. 

While the court granted bail to the juvenile just hours after the incident, the police have detained the teen’s realtor father, and arrested three executives of two hotels who served liquor to the minor.

“The chief minister, the deputy chief minister, and home minister (Fadnavis), and the (Pune) guardian minister (Deputy CM Ajit Pawar) have given clear instructions to the police to take stringent action in this case. The state Director General of Police has also instructed for strong action,” Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar told reporters while addressing the public’s concerns that the police were not taking adequate action in the case.  

Asked about any pressure on the police in this case, the official said that from the beginning, the police have been acting according to the law and there is no pressure on the cops from anyone.

“I mentioned yesterday that we are ready to discuss every legal step taken by the police. We have taken the most stringent possible action. If legal experts believe there are more stringent provisions available, they should come forward for a public discussion,” he said.

Kumar said on the first day, the police invoked Indian Penal Code Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), in addition to section 304A (causing death by negligence).

“We also moved an application before a court seeking permission to treat the juvenile as an adult due to the heinous nature of the act. Unfortunately, the court rejected our application. We have now approached the district sessions court and are awaiting the judgment,” he said.

Kumar said the blood report of the juvenile is still awaited. However, the CCTV footage of the restaurants and bill payments made there indicate the juvenile had consumed alcohol, he said.

Leader of Opposition in the Maharashtra assembly Vijay Wadettiwar has demanded a judicial inquiry into the incident.

“There should be a judicial inquiry into the Pune accident that claimed the lives of two innocent people. There is a question mark on Pune Police's investigation, therefore a judicial inquiry should be conducted in this case. The police have reported that the alcohol test of the accused in the Pune accident was negative. The CCTV footage of the accused, who is a minor, is drunk and this report is raising a question mark on the police investigation,” Wadettiwar wrote on X in Marathi.

“How did the minor accused get access to alcohol? How did an unregistered car come on the road in Pune? Do bars and pubs open by breaking the rules? If so, why is there no action against them? Why did it take so long to arrest the accused's father knowing that he is a minor? That is why we demand a judicial inquiry into the said incident and also an inquiry into the Pune Police in this case,” he added.

The police said that they will take strict action against any officers found to be directly or indirectly giving the teenager preferential treatment while he was in custody after the incident. 

The police had registered a case against the teenager’s father under sections 75 (willful neglect of a child, or exposing a child to mental or physical illnesses) and 77 (supplying a child with intoxicating liquor or drugs) of the Juvenile Justice Act, and against the owners and staff members of the bar establishments for serving alcohol to an underage person.