 "14 WhatsApp calls, Facetime: How Pune teen's father convinced Ajay Taware to swap son's blood sample")
Vishal Agarwal, the father of the 17-year-old boy accused in the Pune Porsche crash case, made 14 calls in less than three hours to Dr Ajay Taware, head of the Forensic Medicine department at Sassoon General Hospital where his son’s blood samples were collected to test if he under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident on May 19.
14 calls between 8 am & 11 am
Vishal Agarwal, who is a renowned real estate developer, has allegedly paid a bribe of Rs 3 lakh to the doctors of Pune’s Sassoon Hospital to get his son’s forensic report manipulated and to show that he was not under the influence of alcohol when he was driving his Porsche Taycan which he ran over a bike, killing two young software professionals in Kalyani Nagar.
The first call by Vishal Agarwal to Dr Taware was made at 8:45 am and till 11 am, 14 calls were made during which, the police suspect and the duo discussed that blood samples needed to be changed.
WhatsApp, Facetime & normal calls
The conversation between Vishal Agarwal and Dr Taware was over WhatsApp, Facetime and also on normal calls.
The calls took place around the time the blood samples of the teen accused were collected and were being sent to the forensic lab.
The persistent calls, appear to have worked in favour of Vishal Agarwal, and Taware likely got convinced. It was at Taware’s request, Dr Shrihari Halnore, the chief medical officer (CMO) of Sassoon Hospital changed the blood samples of the Pune Porsche accident accused.
Also Read: Porsche crash case: A bribe of Rs 3 lakh to dump teen's blood sample? How Pune cops foiled plan
The blood sample of a different person was sent to the forensic lab and the blood sample of the teen accused was dumped in a dustbin.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsWhen the reports arrived, the doctors at Sassoon Hospital said the accused had not consumed alcohol on the day of the Pune Porsche car crash.
Unconvinced with the reports from Sassoon Hospital, the Pune Crime Branch investigating the case, took another blood sample of the juvenile for a DNA test at a different government hospital.
The blood sample, collected for the second time, matched with his father’s. It was also found that the sample collected initially at Sassoon did not match that of the accused.
On Monday (May 27), Taware and Halnore were arrested and a few hours later, another staffer of the Sassoon Hospital, identified as Atul Ghatkamble, was nabbed by the cops.
The police said Ghatkamble, who worked under Taware, acted as a middleman and allegedly collected Rs 3 lakh from the teen’s family to give to the two doctors who discarded the boy’s blood sample in a dustbin and changed it with another person’s blood sample.
Of the total amount, Rs 2.5 lakh was recovered from Dr Halnor and the remaining Rs 50,000 was found from Ghatkamble.
Ajay Taware’s residence searched
After Taware’s arrest, as part of the investigation, the Pune Police carried out extensive searches at his residence during which they recovered some documents regarding earlier cases for which he is under scanner.
The Pune Crime Branch is also trying to ascertain the exact amount that was promised or given to Taware by the Agarwals.
‘Will reveal more names’
During the probe, Taware also warned that he would reveal more names of people involved in the Pune Porsche crash case.
“Mei chup nahi baithunga, sabka naam bahar aaega (I will not stay mum, will reveal everyone’s name),” he said.
Also Read: 'Won't stay mum, will reveal everyone's name,' threatens doctor arrested in Pune Porsche crash case
Taware asked hospital staff to get alcohol
A three-member committee was constituted by the Maharashtra government’s Directorate of Medical Education and Research (DMER) to probe “misconduct” by the two doctors of Sassoon who visited the hospital on Tuesday (May 28). They were told by the staff that Taware used to ask them to get alcohol to the hospital.
The committee left Pune for Mumbai and is likely to submit its report to the state government on Wednesday. The report has been after 8 hours of inquiry.
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