Juvenile court cancels bail of teenager involved in Pune car crash after outrage

The court has remanded him to Observation Home till June 5.

Mumbai: Amid severe public outrage and backlash because of the initial handling of the sensational Porsche drunken-driving hit-and-run case of Pune, the bail of the 17-year-old accused was cancelled while his father Vishal Agarwal was sent to police custody for two days on Wednesday.

On the other hand, the police will also probe the alleged links of his grandfather Surendra Kumar Agarwal with underworld don Chhota Rajan, who is currently in jail in multiple cases as a convict as well as undertrial.

There was also "bulldozer-action” against two pubs for allegedly flouting rules - and much more would follow in the next few days.

The two victims of the aforementioned accident are Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, both aged 24, working as data analysts in Johnson Controls. Aneesh and Ashwini hailed from Umaria and Jabalpur districts, respectively, of Madhya Pradesh.

The boy was charged under IPC section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and sections of the Motor Vehicles Act, however, barely 15 hours after his arrest, he was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) of Pune with conditions like that the CCL (child in conflict with law) has to work with traffic police in Yerwada for 15 days, write an essay on ‘effect of road accidents and their solution’, undergo treatment for his drinking habit and take counselling sessions.

While it sparked outrage among the public, the Pune police - who had asked the accused to be declared as an adult looking at the severity of the crime, filed a review.

The JJB of Pune on Wednesday cancelled the bail of a teenager involved in car crash, remanded him to Rehabilitation/Observation Home till 5 June.

His father, Vishal Agarwal was produced before Additional Sessions Judge S P Ponkshe, who presides over the Pune District & Sessions Court. He has been booked under the provision of sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act and Motor Vehicle Act on the charges of allowing his minor son to consume liquor and to drive the Porsche Taycan in inebriated condition.

The court remanded him to two days’ police custody till 24 May.

The Pune police have booked four other persons - the owner of restaurant Cosie, Naman Pralhad Bhutada (25) and its manager, Sachin Katkar (35), two managers of restaurant Blak, Sandip Sangale (34) and Jayesh Bonkar.

Proving its point that the minor boy was a drinker, the police produced hotel liquor bills of Rs 48,000 paid where he and his friends had gone partying after the Class XII results.

Amid media reports that the minor’s grandfather Surendra Kumar Agarwal is facing trial in a shootout case which is linked to underworld don Chhota Rajan, Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis assured a thorough probe. "Whatever connection is there…the complete investigation will be done. Action will be taken on everything,” said Fadnavis, who is also the state’s Home Minister.

The case involves a murder attempt on a business rival, which was registered in 2009, and is currently sub-judice.

The Agarwal family owns the Brahma Group, a real estate and construction company, which was founded by Brahmadatt Agarwal.