Reacting sharply to an activist’s claims that he had called the Pune police commissioner to “pressure him” after the accident in which a 17-year-old had killed two techies in their 20s in his Porsche, Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Ajit Pawar has said he is ready to undergo a narco test to prove his innocence but asked whether the person making the allegation was ready to take ‘sanyas’ (lead a life of renunciation) if he is proven innocent.
Activist Anjali Damania has alleged that Mr Pawar had called Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar after the Porsche accident and the deputy chief minister had, on Monday, said he had done so to ensure that the senior cop did not give in to any pressure.
“As a people’s representative, we receive calls regarding such accidents. I had called the police commissioner and told him that the accused boy was from a wealthy family and there was a chance the police might be pressured. I told him not to succumb to any political pressure,” the NCP leader was quoted as saying by news agency PTI.
When he was asked about the activist claiming that the calls were made to favour the accused and demanding that his phone records be checked, Mr Pawar said in Marathi, “I am ready for a narco test but, if I am cleared, you (Ms Damania) should stay quiet at home and take ‘sanyas’. Is she ready for that?”
Colleagues In Dock Too
The deputy chief minister’s comments came on a day when the dean of Sassoon Hospital – where two doctors were arrested for allegedly replacing the teenager’s blood samples to ensure that no alcohol was detected in them – claimed that a minister and an MLA from Mr Pawar’s party had written a letter asking for one of the doctors to be made the head of the forensics department.
Dr Vinayak Kale claimed that the letter was written by Maharashtra Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif and MLA Sunil Tingre in favour of Dr Ajay Tawade, who was suspended as the head of the hospital’s Forensic Medicine Department on Wednesday . Mr Tingre is already in the eye of a storm for visiting the police station where the teenager was taken after the accident on May 19 to allegedly pressure officials into going easy on the case.
Dr Kale was later sent on compulsory leave by the Maharashtra government for “failing to take the case seriously” and “not taking proper decisions” as the dean.
On May 18, the 17-year-old son of a prominent Pune realtor had gone partying – in a Rs 2.5-crore Porsche – with his friends to celebrate his Class 12 results. They went to two pubs and drank illegally, paying a bill of Rs 48,000 at one of them.
The teen then got into the Porsche with two of his friends and crashed into a scooter in Kalyani Nagar at a speed of at least 150 kmph in the early hours of May 19, killing two 24-year-old IT professionals on the spot. 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.
The teenager had got bail the same day and was asked to write a 300-word essay as one of the conditions. Three days later, after nationwide outrage, he was sent to a remand home till June 5.
