Family threatened driver to take blame for crash, says Pune police chief; accused’s granddad held

Pune [Maharashtra], [India], May 25 (ANI): Amid the ongoing investigation of the Pune car accident case which claimed the life of two youths, Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar revealed details regarding the initial statement of the driver and subsequent actions taken by the police and said that at the first instance, the police disbelieved the driver's statement in which he claimed that he was driving the car.
"When the driver was first brought to the Police Station from the spot, the first statement which he gave in writing was that he was driving the car. But the Police at that point in time did not believe the statement of the driver and after a preliminary inquiry, they registered an offence against the juvenile accused because it was evident prima facie that the juvenile accused was driving the vehicle," Kumar said.
"The family threatened the driver to take the blame. The driver was kept confined. The driver wasn't behind the wheel. Family (of accused minor) tried to bribe the driver," the Pune Police Commissioner said.
The Pune Police Crime Branch unit on Saturday morning arrested the grandfather of the minor accused of killing two motorcycle-borne persons in Pune City earlier this week after ramming into them the luxury car he was allegedly driving.
The commissioner of Pune city police, Amitesh Kumar said that the grandfather of the accused was arrested. A separate FIR has been registered against him under IPC sections 365 and 368.
The Pune City Police had on Thursday questioned the 17-year-old's grandfather in connection with the incident that took place early on Sunday morning in Pune's Kayani Nagar. The accused teenager was reportedly driving a luxury car in an inebriated condition and hit two motorcycle-borne IT professionals identified as Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta.
Along with the grandfather of the accused- Surendra Kumar Agarwal, his son Vishal Agarwal has also been booked in the same FIR under IPC Sections 342,365, 368, 506 and 34 on the complaint of the family driver, Gangadhar, Pune Police CP said.
The driver Gangadhar had lodged a complaint with police alleging that he was taken to Surendra Agarwal's home against his will on the night of May 19 when Gangadhar was leaving the Yerawada Police Station.
Surendra and his son Vishal allegedly threatened Gangadhar, snatched his phone and forcibly kept him confined in their bungalow in an attempt to force him to take responsibility for the crime instead of his minor grandson.
The accused has been detained at an observation home on the order of the Juvenile Justice Board. He was earlier granted bail in the case but later sent to the observation home for 14 days till June 5.
The accused teenager's father, Vishal Agarwal, who was arrested earlier, is lodged in Yerawada Central Prison after he was granted judicial custody for 14 days.
The Pune Police commissioner earlier said that efforts were on to try the minor accused as an adult.
He confirmed that an effort was made to frame the person employed for driving the Porsche car after the accident, and added that police are investigating his statement. (ANI)