Pune car crash: Panel probing blood sample manipulation visits Sassoon hospital

The car that crashed into the bike of the of victims of Pune accident. File Pic/PTI

A three-member committee probing into alleged manipulation of the blood samples of the juvenile driver involved in the Pune car crash visited the Sassoon General Hospital in Pune on Tuesday, reported PTI.

On Monday, the police arrested Dr Ajay Taware, head of the state-run hospital's forensic medicine department, chief medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor and staff member Atul Ghatkamble in connection with the incident.

"We will examine the sequence of events after the accident. The probe will be conducted as per the rules and a report will be submitted to the government," said Dr Pallavi Sapale, dean of the Grant Medical College and J J group of hospitals who is heading the panel.

The car crash claimed the lives of two IT professionals in their 20s as their motorcycle was hit by a speeding Porsche, allegedly driven by a 17-year-old, in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar area in Pune. According to police, the teenager was drunk at the time.

As per the PTI report, on Monday, police claimed that his blood samples were discarded and replaced with another person's samples which showed no traces of alcohol. Dr Taware and the other two were arrested in this connection.

Pune car crash: Police say hospital staff switched accused's blood sample on doctors' directions

The Pune police have claimed that the blood sample of a 17-year-old teenager involved in a deadly car accident was destroyed and replaced on the orders of a doctor from Sassoon General Hospital.

At a news conference, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that the juvenile's father offered Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Forensic Medicine department, inducements to replace his son's blood sample. This came after the teenager's Porsche collided with a motorbike in Kalyani Nagar on May 19, killing two IT professionals, reported PTI.

Per the report, the authorities said that they believe the adolescent was intoxicated at the time of the Pune car crash and said that they have arrested Dr Ajay Taware and the hospital's chief medical officer Dr Shrihari Halnor in connection with the case.

Kumar said that the inquiry revealed that the juvenile's blood sample was substituted with another person's sample. The boy's father allegedly approached Dr Taware to arrange the switch.

The senior police official told PTI that as a precaution, the police collected an additional blood sample for DNA testing, which revealed that the sample from Sassoon Hospital had been manipulated because the DNA did not match.

"It has been revealed in the investigation (of the Pune car crash) that the blood samples of the juvenile were replaced with some other person's samples and this was done on the direction of Dr Taware. On the instructions of Dr Taware, the juvenile's blood samples were thrown into a dustbin and replaced with the blood samples of another person," said CP Amitesh Kumar.

"The investigation also revealed that it was the juvenile's father who had called Dr Ajay Taware and offered him allurements to replace the blood samples," Kumar added.

Both doctors were unaware that an additional sample had been collected. The authorities are looking into whose blood was used to replace the juvenile's sample and have collected CCTV footage from the hospital. The case now includes charges under Indian Penal Code sections 201 (causing the loss of evidence), 120B (criminal conspiracy), and other related provisions. The juvenile's father has been named as a co-accused.

Kumar, speaking at the press conference said, "The report of the other hospital revealed the juvenile's blood report at the Sassoon Hospital was manipulated as the DNA of (blood samples of) both the reports did not match. Both the doctors had no idea that the police would take one more sample (of the accused juvenile), CP Amitesh Kumar said about the Pune car crash accused's blood swap and added, "A probe is underway on whose blood samples were collected to replace with that of the juvenile. We have recovered CCTV footage of the Sassoon Hospital and further probe is on."

"We have made the juvenile's father co-accused in the present case," he said.

Initially, the Juvenile Justice Board gave the accused bail in the Pune car crash case and directed him to prepare an essay about traffic accidents. However, due to public indignation and a review application by the police, he was placed in an observation home until June 5. The teenager's father and grandfather, who were both involved in the Pune car crash, have been remanded to custody too.