Licence was suspended but Geetha Vishnu drove car

Geetha Vishnu, the grandson of former MP the late D K Audikesavulu, who caused an accident on September 28, 2017, was driving the car despite having his driving licence suspended for drunk driving. Seven people, including two children, were injured in the accident. However, the police did not recommend permanent suspension of his licence though he is a repeat offender driving under influence.

The Central Crime Branch (CCB) police took 15 months to file a charge sheet in this case, whereas for high-profile cases, including terror, the time given to file a charge sheet is 180 days. The Jayanagar traffic police mentioned that Vishnu’s licence was suspended from June 18, 2017 to December 12, 2017. Despite this, he continued driving. After the accident, the doctors in the presence of police revealed that he tested positive for narcotics and his blood alcohol level was 159 mg/dl, well above the permissible 30 mg/dl.

Twenty-seven-year-old Vishnu is the managing director for his family’s business ventures including Aditya Infrastructure, Green Food Park and Eden Park, a restaurant in Jayanagar where he partied with his friends before the accident that night.

According to his statement in the charge sheet, Vishnu confessed to the police that he was partying with seven friends including Pravav Devaraj, son of actor Devaraj, Shashank, Vinod Lokanath, Mohammed Junaid Rafi and Muhammad Faisal Rafi, Sachin, Aditya and his brother Adi Narayana. They started drinking at 7.20 pm and went on till 11.30 pm and even smoked marijuana.

High on marijuana

They later moved to Junaid’s house and consumed Scotch, which they finished. When Vishnu wanted more, Pranav and Shashank got him a few beers. But Vishnu insisted that he needed Scotch and took Junaid in his car to buy a drink at midnight.

On his way, Vishnu realised that he was not carrying his phone, and so turned back. As they reached Southend near Jayanagar, his car crashed into a Maruti Omni van. The van toppled, injuring seven of a family, including two children. Soon after the incident, Junaid fled from the spot
while passersby caught Vishnu and handed him over to the police.

Tests revealed that Vishnu and three of his friends (Pranav, Shashank and Faisal Rafi) tested positive for narcotics.