Pune rash driving case: Three arrested accused sent to police custody till May 24

May 21, 2024

Pune (Maharashtra) [India], May 21 : Three accused in the Pune rash driving case, that killed two people, have been sent to police custody till May 24 by special court in Pune.
Two of the three accused are the bar owner and bar manager who served liquor to the juvenile accused on the night of the accident. The third accused is also a bar manager of another bar. He had also allegedly served liquor to the juvenile driver.
Additionally, two more accused -- the juvenile's father and another bar owner -- are currently detained, and the process to arrest them is underway, the police officials said. The father of the juvenile accused was detained earlier in the day.
The accident, which occurred in the early hours of Sunday after a luxury car collided with their motorcycle near Kalyani Nagar in Pune, resulted in the untimely demise of two young people. The deceased were namely: Ashwini Koshta and Aneesh Awadhia.
According to the Commissioner of Police, Pune, the father of the minor accused, had been detained from the Sambhajinagar area of Aurangabad district in Maharashtra this morning.
Earlier on May 19, the Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the accused involved in a recent car accident in Pune, said the juvenile accused's advocate, Prashant Patil. The bail comes with several conditions aimed at rehabilitation and awareness.
The conditions include the following: The accused should work with the traffic police of Yerawada for 15 days; the accused should write an essay on the accident; should get treatment from the concerned doctor to help him quit drinking; and should take psychiatric counselling and submit a report.
The family of Ashwini Koshta, who was killed in the accident, are demanding strict action against the accused.
"The law should take action against (the accused) according to the constitution and existing laws so that people learn a lesson from this," the deceased's father said.
The mother of deceased said the parents of the accused should be punished for the "way they brought their children."
"The parents (of the accused) should be punished for the way they have brought up their child. Law should also take action so that such an incident does not happen again," she said.
Aneesh Awadhia's father said that the family's expenses were being borne by their son. They also alleged that the government is "not cooperating" with the family in the investigation.
"Our elder son was bearing the expense of education of our younger son. Now, how will we continue his education?... Neither the police nor the government supported us," the deceased's father, Om Prakash Awadhia said.
The deceased's grandfather, Atma Ram Awadhia said, "He went to Pune for studies, then he started working as a software engineer there. On May 19, he was hit by a speeding luxurious car... I demand the government to make up for our loss. We are observing that Maharashtra police and hospital staff are not cooperating with us."
Pune Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar said on Monday, that the Pune Police are seeking permission to try the juvenile accused in the Pune rash driving case.
CP Kumar emphasized that from the outset, the police have acted "decisively", registering the offence under Section 304 (culpable homicide that does not amount to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), ensuring the case was presented in court for trial, and taking action against the father of the accused and the pub owners under the Juvenile Justice Act.
Meanwhile, National Commission for Protection of Child Rights (NCPCR) Chairperson Priyank Kanoongo urged activists and media personnel to refrain from revealing the identity of the minor accused in the Pune car accident case.
He emphasized that doing so would be a crime under the Juvenile Justice Act, which prohibits disclosing the identity of juvenile offenders or victims.