Startling revelations are being made as the Pune crime branch delves deeper into the high-profile Pune Porsche hit-and-run case, in which a 17-year-old minor boy killed two young motorcycle-borne engineers while driving his swanky Porsche car under the influence of alcohol in the wee hours of May 19. Today (May 30), reports have quoted police sources as confirming that the blood sample of Shivani Agarwal, the accused teen’s mother was swapped with the minor’s blood sample at the city’s Sassoon General Hospital.
It may be recalled that on Monday, May 27, the Pune police Crime Branch arrested two doctors from Sassoon Hospital on the charge of manipulating blood samples of the minor accused in the Pune Porsche hit-and-run case. The two doctors were identified as Dr Ajay Taware, head of Sassoon General Hospital’s forensic medicine department, and Dr Shrihari Halnor, the chief medical officer. The hospital peon, Atul Ghatkamble, who works under Dr Ajay Taware, was later arrested. They were remanded in police custody until May 30.
Now, the investigation has revealed that the blood sample of Shivani Agarwal was taken by one of the accused Dr Shrihari Halnor. She was present at the hospital when the test happened and is currently absconding after the arrest of Dr Halnor and Dr Ajay Tawade. The police have launched a manhunt and are actively searching for Shivani Agarwal’s whereabouts.
According to the Pune police, Dr Halnor, who had taken the blood sample from the minor, revealed he had swapped his blood sample with that of his mother on the directions of Dr Tawade.
Interestingly, only yesterday (May 29), the police revealed that the accused teen’s father Vishal Agarwal made as many as 14 calls to Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Sassoon Hospital’s forensic medicine department within two hours before the blood sample collection of the minor. The police said that the calls were probably made to discuss the ‘change of blood sample’.
It was also revealed that the hospital attendant, Atul Ghatkamble, accepted a bribe of Rs 3 lakh intended for the two senior doctors, who replaced the juvenile driver’s blood samples with that of another person who showed no traces of alcohol. The Rs 3 lakh cash was found on Monday by the Crime Branch of the Pune Police.
Now, the investigation has revealed that the ‘other person’ with whom the minor’s blood sample was swapped was no one else but his mother, Shivani Agarwal, who is currently on the run.
