Porsche car crash case: Granddad, father of minor accused remanded to police custody till May 31
The father was earlier arrested under Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act for failing to carry out his duties as a guardian
The district court on Tuesday sent the father and the grandfather of the minor accused involved in the Porsche accident case to police custody till May 31. The duo was booked for allegedly kidnapping and wrongful confinement of the family driver at their Wadgaonsheri bungalow.
The Pune police had moved an application before Judicial Magistrate First Class (JMFC) AA Pande seeking seven days custodial interrogation of both after their 42-year-old driver accused them of wrongful confinement and intimidation.
“Prima facie, it has come to light that accused tampered with CCTV camera footage from the place of crime (their bungalow). There is a need to probe if anyone else assisted the accused,” public prosecutor Nilesh Ladkar told the judge, who later remanded the duo to police custody for three days.
Inspector Pratap Mankar, incharge, anti-extortion cell (AEC) crime branch, in his submission before the court demanded police custody on grounds that they wanted to seize the car involved in the crime, question the duo on why the driver’s phone was seized after the accident and establish the role of the accused who had tampered with the CCTV footage at their residence.
The minor’s father and grandfather has been booked under Indian Penal Code Sections 342 (wrongful confinement), 365 (kidnapping and abduction), 368 (whoever, knowing that any person has been kidnapped or has been abducted, wrongfully conceals or confines such person), 506 (criminal intimidation) and 34 (a criminal act is done by several persons in furtherance of the common intention).
The father was earlier arrested under Sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act for failing to carry out his duties as a guardian. In addition, he was booked under Sections 3, 5, 199 (a) of the Motor Vehicles Act, officials said.
The driver employed by the accused had lodged a complaint with the police alleging that he was taken to their home against his will on the night the accident took place.
The 17-year-old accused driving a Porsche car had knocked down a motorbike at Kalyaninagar killing two IT professionals on May 19.
Meanwhile, the minor 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.
Car seized
In a fresh development in the case, the Pune police on Tuesday seized the Mercedes car allegedly used in the abduction of their employed driver by the accused juvenile’s family members. The driver in his complaint to the police had claimed that the juvenile’s grandfather used his Mercedes to take him to their bungalow where he was intimidated to take the blame and admit to being the driver at the time of the fatal accident.