NEW DELHI, May 22: Following nationwide outrage, the bail of the Pune teenager who rammed his Porsche into a motorcycle killing two IT professionals in their 20s in a drunken condition, was cancelled on Wednesday by the Juvenile Justice Board.
The decision came three days after the Board had granted bail to the 17-year-old and asked him to write an essay on road accidents within hours of killing two people by hitting them with his Porsche car after consuming alcohol at a bar in Pune prompting nationwide outrage.
The board said the minor would have to be sent to the Children Observation Centre. The Pune police had demanded that the minor accused be treated as an adult during prosecution on the basis of the crime but a final decision will be taken as per further investigation. The teen was also produced before a juvenile court after a new case was registered against him under section 185 for driving under the influence of alcohol.
Earlier on Wednesday, Maharashtra Transport Commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar said the teen killer would be barred from getting a driving licence till he turns 25. State transport officials also said permanent registration of the Porsche Taycan had been pending since March since the owner did not pay a fee of Rs 1,758.
Meanwhile, the teen’s builder father Vishal Agarwal was produced before a Pune court on Wednesday. The court sent him to police custody till May 24. The realtor had been arrested on Tuesday from Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar in Maharashtra, where he had allegedly gone to evade the cops.
The accident took place around 2.15 am on Sunday, when the 17-year-old, who had been drinking with his friends in two pubs in Pune to celebrate his Class 12 results, knocked down the two 24-year-old IT professionals in the Kalyani Nagar area. Aneesh Awadhiya, who was riding the bike was sent flying and hit a parked car, while Ashwini Koshta – who was riding pillion – was flung 20 feet into the air. Both of them died on the spot.
At 17 years and 8 months old, the teenager was four months short of the legal age for driving and more than seven years younger than Maharashtra’s legal age for drinking. The father had been charged under Sections 75 (wilful neglect of a child, or exposing a child to mental or physical illnesses) and 77 (supplying a child with intoxicating liquor or drugs) of the Juvenile Justice Act.
Presenting the prominent builder before the Pune sessions court on Wednesday, the police sought his custody for seven days, but it was granted till Friday. They said he was in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and it was suspected that he may have hidden evidence, or there would have been no reason for him to hide there.
Pointing out that the car hadn’t been registered despite being purchased in March, the police’s lawyer also asked why that had not been done. The government’s counsel argued that the boy’s father had been arrested because he gave him the car knowing that he did not have a driving licence and was going to a pub.
“The car given to the boy was without a number plate. We need the documents of the car and details of the debit/credit card given to the teenager,” the lawyer told the court. Police said the boy’s father had gone on the run after a first information report was filed against him. To throw the cops off his scent, he left home in his car and asked the driver of that vehicle to head to Mumbai while another driver was asked to leave for Goa in a different car.
The builder got off the car en route to Mumbai and then hopped into a friend’s car to proceed towards Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar. He also started using a new SIM card to make it difficult to trace him, said officials. The remand copy states that he tried to mislead the police by claiming he was in Shirdi when he was actually in Aurangabad (as Chhatrapati Sabhajinagar was formerly known). When he was arrested, he was carrying a feature phone. The phone and the car he was using have both been confiscated by the police.
(Manas Dasgupta)