Pune teen Porsche driver's father, missing since May 19, arrested; cops want court to treat accused as adult

The father of the 17-year-old boy, who allegedly ran over two bike-borne youths with his speeding unregistered Porsche, while he was under the influence of alcohol in Pune’s Kalyaninagar on May 19, was held from Maharashtra’s Aurangabad on Tuesday morning.

Vishal Agarwal, a prominent real estate mogul of Bramha Realty and Infrastructure, was brought to Pune, and was arrested.  

As per reports the Porsche, involved in the Pune accident, was purchased from Karnataka’s Bengaluru.

Agarwal, father of the minor who was granted bail within 15 hours of detention, was absconding since his son was apprehended in the wee hours of Sunday after killing two techies from Madhya Pradesh who were working in Pune.

#WATCH | On the Pune car accident case, Pune CP Amitesh Kumar says, "There were 5 accused in the FIR, out of which we arrested 3 accused late last night, we will present them in court. The accused's father was absconding and has also been taken into custody..." pic.twitter.com/lPUgmhehdR

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2024

Why was Pune minor Porsche driver’s father arrested?

Pune Police has nabbed Vishal Agarwal and lodged an FIR stating that despite knowing his son is a minor and that he did not have a valid license, the senior Agarwal gave him the car, thus endangering the boy’s life.

The father has also been booked for allowing his son, a juvenile, to party even after knowing that he consumes liquor. The boy was intoxicated at the time of the accident on Sunday.

For the unversed, the legal age of drinking in Maharashtra is 25.

The senior Agarwal has been charged under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act. These sections pertain to willful neglect of a child and providing intoxicating substances to a minor, respectively.  

He has also been booked under the relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act (MVA) after the police found out that the Porsche car he had bought for his son in March this year had not yet been registered.

Pub owners arrested for serving alcohol to minors

The owner of Cozy Hotel, where the minor was supposedly partying, has been arrested for serving and allowing the accused minor to drink alcohol. The manager of the hotel, and one other person have also been arrested for serving.

Pune Police moves higher court

After the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) in Pune granted bail to the minor, Pune Police said it had moved to the sessions court, seeking permission to try him as an adult in the case.

The boy is just four months short of turning 18 years.

Pune’s commissioner of police Amitesh Kumar said soon after the case was reported, they had moved the Court and sought permission to try the accused as an adult under Section 15 of Juvenile Justice Act, since the ghastly incident was a ‘heinous crime’ as defined under section 2 of the JJA, with the objective that he doesn’t get bail.

“Despite our best efforts the Honourable Court disallowed our application and granted bail to the accused,” the CP Pune said.

#WATCH | On the Pune car accident case, Pune CP Amitesh Kumar says, "...We have adopted the most stringent possible approach and we shall do whatever is at our command to ensure that the two young lives which were lost get justice and the accused gets duly punished..." pic.twitter.com/fl9wxwosI7

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2024

“We have appealed against this order before the higher Court,” the senior police officer said.

“We have initiated action under section 304 of the IPC, which is not subject to bail," Kumar said on May 20.

Minor gets bail within 15 hours, anger grips Pune

On Saturday, the minor had thrown a party for his friends to celebrate his Class 12 results. After the party, in which they allegedly consumed alcohol, the boy and two of his other friends got into the Porsche and set off for a drive.

They vehicle was at around 200 km/per hour when it rammed into a motorcycle killing two youths identified as Anis Awadhiya (24) and Ashwini Costa (24).

Also Read: 17 YO Pune boy, who killed 2 with Porsche, gets bail in hours, asked to write essay on accident

As per reports, locals caught the driver and two other occupants in the car. One of them managed to escape. Those who gathered around the car, started beating up the two they had caught.

Minor caught, jailed & then granted bail

The boy was arrested, taken to police station and on the same day (on Sunday) was produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) which granted him bail. The condition on which he was set free for killing two people drew severe criticism from several factions of the society. The conditions included:

1 - Working with Yerawada traffic police for 15 days

2 - Studying traffic rules and giving a presentation on the same to JJB

3 - Writing a 300-word essay on the “effect of road accidents and their solution”

4 - Undergoing psychiatric evaluation and treatment

5 - Seeking rehabilitation at a de-addiction centre

6 - Assisting accident victims in the future, if he witnessed one

#WATCH | Maharashtra: Visuals of the Porsche car and bike currently at Yerwada Police Station in Pune.

Two people were killed when a speeding Porsche car hit them from behind on 19th May. The accused has been granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board and his father was… https://t.co/HKj8uK4d9q pic.twitter.com/91SeqwfTeN

— ANI (@ANI) May 21, 2024

The juvenile being let go within 15 hours of detention has led to a public outrage who said the punishment given to him was too “lenient”.

Satish Awadhiya, the uncle of one of the victims, Aneesh Awadhiya, said: “The conditions on which the accused was given bail are unimaginable… writing an essay and all! This is shameful for India’s law and order. The way things are going, I do not see us getting any justice."

“Even more shocking are the conditions on which he was given bail in just 15 hours… I am sure the case has been compromised because of someone’s influence… We’ve lost everything,” Satish Awadhiya added.

Boy fed pizza, burger, biryani during detention 

Meanwhile, Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Sanjay Raut has alleged that boy was fed pizza, burger and biryani at the police station during his detention.

Responding on claims of leniency by Yerwada police station, Pune Police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said all allegations against police station are being investigated.  An ACP level officer team has been constituted to check these allegations, he said.