26 July,2024 09:50 PM IST | Pune | mid-day online correspondent
The car seized by police. File Pic/PTI
Pune Police in Maharashtra have filed a chargesheet against seven accused in the Porsche accident case, including the parents of a minor boy who was allegedly behind the wheel, in a Pune court, more than two months after the fatal crash, an official said on Friday, reported the PTI.
The 900-page chargesheet, submitted on Thursday, has excluded the 17-year-old boy, whose case is being handled separately by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB), according to the PTI.
The high-end luxury car allegedly driven by the minor under the influence of alcohol knocked down two motorbike-borne IT professionals, one of them a woman, in Pune's Kalyani Nagar area in the wee hours of May 19, killing them.
The case caused a national uproar after JJB member L N Danwade granted bail to the accused on very lenient terms, including writing a 300-word essay on road safety.
Later, a committee was formed by the Women and Child Development (WCD) Department of the Maharashtra government to probe the conduct of two JJB members in connection with the bail given to the minor accused, reported PTI.
The boy's father is a prominent builder.
"We have filed a 900-page chargesheet against seven accused, including the parents of the minor, two doctors and a staffer from Sassoon General Hospital and two middlemen, in a Pune court on Thursday," said Shalesh Balkawade, Additional Commissioner of Police (Crime), as per the PTI.
The boy's parents and two Sassoon General Hospital doctors -- Ajay Taware, then-HOD of the forensic medicine department and Dr Shrihari Halnor -- and one Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer at the Maharashtra government-run medical facility, are accused of swapping the blood samples of the minor with those of his mother after the crash.
Two other accused -- Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad -- acted as middlemen between the father and the doctors to facilitate financial transactions to swap the blood samples, according to the chargesheet.
The chargesheet contains statements of 50 witnesses.
Last month, the police had submitted the final report to the JJB detailing all evidence against the 17-year-old boy in the car crash case.
(with PTI inputs)