Grandfather arrested for kidnapping driver, forcing him to take blame for Pune accident

Mumbai: After the minor accused and his father, the police on Saturday morning also arrested grandfather Surendra Kumar Agarwal in connection with the Pune accident, in which two IT professionals were killed on May 19. Police arrested Surendra for helping his builder son, Vishal Agarwal, abscond, and for ‘wrongful confinement of his driver and putting pressure on the driver to take the accident blame.

A police official informed that Surendra was arrested on the basis of a complaint by the family driver of the juvenile Gangaram Poojari. The police have registered a separate case against the grandfather and father of the accused minor under section 365 (wrongful confinement) and 368 (keeping in confinement).

The development comes days after the teenager and his father claimed that their family driver was behind wheels at the time of the accident.

According to the police, the grandfather and father took Poojari’s phone and allegedly kept him in forceful confinement at their bungalow from May 19 to May 20. They offered him money to take the blame for the accident.

Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, “The driver initially claimed that he was driving the car when the accident took place. But after further questioning, he confirmed that the juvenile was driving the car while he was made to take the pilot seat.”

Five days after the accident, the police’s departmental inquiry concluded that there was a dereliction of duty by concerned police officers at the initial stage. The department suspended two of its officers, Inspector Rahul Jagdale and Assistant Inspector Vishwanath Todkar, attached to the Yerawada police station, where the FIR was registered. The two officers were reportedly present in the police station when they received the information of the accident at around  2.30am on May 19. They have been accused of procedural lapses and failing to inform the wireless control room about the incident in time.

Even the first blood samples of the minor were taken late at around 8am. The Pune police commissioner said that the blood and DNA reports are expected by next week. However, he also claimed that the blood report about alcohol content is not critical for the case as the police have gathered CCTV footage and restaurant bills to prove that the juvenile was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.

As per the FIR, 17-year-old Vishal Agarwal was driving his father’s Porsche car at a high speed under the influence of alcohol and fatally knocked down Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, who were riding a motorbike. The incident became national news after the Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the accused within a few hours and asked him to write an essay on road accidents.