Real estate developer Vishal Agarwal, father of the 17-year-old boy involved in the car crash that killed two techies in Kalyaninagar on Sunday, had told his driver to let his teenage son drive the Porsche Taycan, according to sources. The Pune police on Thursday questioned the accused minor’s grandfather, one of his friends and the family driver who was accompanying him in the car when the accident occurred.
Sources said that during questioning, the driver told cops that he had insisted that he drive the car, but Vishal had allowed his son to take the wheels.
Speaking on whether the family tried to pressure the driver to change the narrative of the incident, Pune Police commissioner said: “Effort was made to change the driver during that period. It is true that at the start, the driver had said he was driving the car. We are also trying to investigate under whose pressure the driver made that statement.”
The police have already arrested the teenager’s father, who is a prominent city-based builder. Vishal Agrawal was taken to Unit 4 of the crime branch for further investigation.
This comes after the accused minor recently claimed that his family driver was driving the car when the accident happened. His two friends who were with him at the time of the crash, also backed his claims. The claim was also backed by Vishal Agarwal, who said that it was their family driver, who was employed by him was driving the Porsche.
Meanwhile, police questioned the teenager’s grandfather Surendra Agarwal to know more about his son and grandson, and the conversations he had with them on the day of the accident.
“He was asked about who helped Vishal escape, about Vishal’s hidden mobile phone, was Vishal in contact with anyone after he escaped. He was also quizzed regarding his assurance to the Juvenile justice board and registration of the Porsche,” sources said.
While the minor’s grandfather was being taken to confront his son at the police commissionerate, some reporters tried to ask him questions, following which a man accompanying him heckled and obstructed them.
It led to a heated exchange of words before the police intervened. It was a team of police personnel who whisked away the man inside a room to ensure that the situation did not escalate further.
The boy’s grandfather and his son, who is already in police custody, were confronted as some facts related to the case needed to be corroborated, the official said.
“Since the luxury car is in the name of the realty firm owned by the Agarwals, the grandfather of the minor, who is one of the owners of the firm, was questioned in regards to the ownership of the car,” he said.
A friend of the minor who was with him in the car was also questioned to verify and corroborate the sequence of events that took place in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, he added.
The police, while seeking the custody of the minor’s father, had told the court on Wednesday that as the juvenile wanted to drive the car, the driver called his employer (minor’s father) and told him about his son’s demand and it was his dad who told the driver to let his son drive the car.
The officer said that the driver may be presented in court as a witness in the case.
The Case
A Porsche car, allegedly driven by the minor accused, who the police claim was drunk at the time, fatally knocked down two motorbike-borne software engineers at Kalyani Nagar in the city in the early hours of Sunday.
The teenager was sent to the observation home by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, the cops are collecting CCTV footage of the entire route through which the car traversed – from residence to Cosie restaurant, then to Blak Club and from there to the accident spot, to see who was driving the car.
A forensic team also carried out an examination of the Porsche car which was involved in the accident.
“A team today conducted the examination of the car, which is in the possession of the Yerawada police station. We have already carried out the forensic examination of the spot and now the car has also been examined. The technical aspects such as GPS, the cameras around the car were examined,” said another senior police officer, who is currently monitoring the investigation.
The police said that they had seized one phone belonging to the minor’s father who is currently in police custody.
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