Family of teen driver involved in Pune car crash now booked in suicide abetment case

PUNE: Police have booked the father and grandfather of the juvenile involved in the May 19 Porsche car crash in Pune, and three others, in a separate case related to the abetment of suicide of a businessman's son in the city, an official said on June 6.

According to the police, a complaint in this regard was registered by a man, DS Kature, who runs a construction business in Pune's Vadgaon Sheri area, against one Vinay Kale, from whom his son Shashikant Kature, had taken a loan for construction work.

After he could not pay the loan on time, Kale allegedly started adding compounding interest to the principal amount and harassing Shashikant Kature. Fed up with constant harassment, Shashikant Kature died by suicide in January this year, they said.

A case was registered against Kale under IPC sections 306 (abetment of suicide ) and 506 (criminal intimidation) at the Chandannagar police station in the city.

"During the investigation, the role of the juvenile's father (a builder), grandfather and three others cropped up in the suicide case. We have now added sections 420 (cheating) and 34 (common intention) of the IPC to the case," said a police officer without elaborating on their alleged role in the episode.

The juvenile's grandfather is currently in judicial custody for alleged kidnapping and wrongful confinement of their family driver, who was pressured to tell the police that he was behind the wheels when the fatal accident took place.

The 17-year-old boy's father, real estate developer Vishal Agarwal, and his mother are currently in police custody in a case related to the juvenile's blood samples swapping.

The tragic incident occurred in Kalyani Nagar, resulting in the deaths of two IT professionals after the Porsche car, allegedly driven by the minor, collided with their two-wheeler.

Meanwhile, the teen's grandfather on Thursday (June 6) approached the Bombay High Court, through his lawyer Aashutosh Srivastava, with a writ petition, stating that he was wrongfully detained and falsely implicated in the case related to kidnapping and wrongful confinement of their family driver.

The petition stated that investigating authorities on mere allegations and based on a complaint submitted after inordinate delay of five days, filed the case without following due procedure mandated under section 42A of the CrPC against the 77-year-old senior citizen (juvenile's grandfather).

The plea stated that the driver, after being released around 11 pm on May 20 from the Yerawada police station following investigation, was received by the petitioner (teen's grandfather). Since he was frightened and devastated and there was risk to his life, it was mutually decided by both the driver and the petitioner to go the latter's home, said the plea.

It stated the petitioner assured the safety and protection of the driver and his family.

The plea, calling the complaint by the driver as 'concocted and bogus' in regards to his alleged abduction and wrongful confinement, prayed the HC to direct the police to immediately release the petitioner, and also sought strict action against cops.