Exclusive/ Driver Handed Over Porsche Keys To Super Brat Following Father's Instructions | EXCLUSIVE

New Delhi: In a significant development in the Pune Porsche crash, an apparent coverup in the case has come to the fore with the driver confessing that he travelled with the super rich brat, and that he handed over the car keys to the 17-year-old after receiving instructions from his father. During hours-long interrogation on Thursday, the driver told the Pune police that the VVIP brat had insisted he wanted to drive the luxury vehicle.

For the uninitiated, a Porsche, allegedly driven by the teenager, who the police claim was drunk at the time, fatally knocked down two motorbike-borne software engineers in the early hours of Sunday. The minor was then produced before the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) which granted him bail while asking him to write a 300-word essay. 

Following a nationwide outcry and the police's review plea, the JJB on Wednesday remanded the teenager to Nehru Udyog Kendra observation home in Yerawada till June 5.

After getting drunk, the VVIP brat –  in an inebriated state – had asked the driver to hand him over the car keys, Republic has learnt. 

The driver, who was reluctant at first, eventually dialled the father who then instructed him to give the keys to the super-rich brat, the investigation has revealed. The Pune police crime branch is now looking out for the CCTV footage from when the the driver reportedly changed the seat inside the car.

Notably, the latest developments in the case come just a day after Republic Media Network's Editor-in-Chief Arnab Goswami confronted Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar, during which the top cop admitted that the NCP MLA from Vadgaon had visited the police station, saying, “He did visit the police station. I can’t stop him".

Republic Confronts Minor's Dad, He Claims To Be a 'Responsible Father'

Meanwhile, the minor's dad, who was confronted with driver's statement, claimed that he is “a responsible father” as he ensured that the driver was accompanying his teenager son at the time.

More than 90 hours since the two blood samples were collected in connection with the case, the report has still not been released by the hospitals, pointing towards sheer laxity in the case.

Besides the driver, the police also questioned the grandfather and friend of the teenager who allegedly crashed his high-end car into a motorbike. The duo were reportedly accompanying him in the car during the fatal accident in Kalyani Nagar area earlier this week.

His grandfather was summoned by the police in connection with an offence registered against the juvenile's father and staff members and the owner of two liquor-serving establishments in Mundhwa area, a crime branch official told news agency PTI.

The senior citizen was confronted with his son, real estate developer Vishal Agarwal who has already been arrested, for the corroboration of certain facts, the official reportedly said.

Meanwhile, a rap song purportedly featuring the teenager, boasting about how he got away with the car crash, went viral on social media, but police clarified that it was a fake account and the teenager had nothing to do with the video.

Former Shiv Sena Corporator Accuses Teenager’s Grandfather of Having Underworld Links

Ajay Bhosale, a former Shiv Sena corporator, has accused the teenager's grandfather of having links with the underworld.

Bhosale, Shiv Sena's candidate from Wadgaon Sheri assembly constituency in 2009, was allegedly shot at during the election campaign in Koregaon Park area. He escaped unhurt, but his driver Shakil Sayyad was injured.

The case is currently being probed by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the grandfather of the teenager has been named as accused number six in it, while gangster Chhota Rajan, currently in jail, is accused number three.

According to a court order, there was a dispute over property between the grandfather of the juvenile and his brother. The accused sought the help of Vijay Salvi, alleged henchman of Rajan, to persuade his brother to hand over his share of the property.

Speaking to a Marathi channel, Bhosale said he had friendly relations with the brother. "He called Chhota Rajan and told him that I was his brother's close friend and supported him, and gave my 'supari' (contract) to Chhota Rajan to eliminate me," PTI quoted Bhosale as claiming.

The accused grandfather is currently out on an anticipatory bail in the case.

Minor Booked for Rash Driving, Causing Death by Negligence

The police have registered an FIR against the minor under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 304 A (causing death by negligence), 279 (rash driving) and relevant sections of the Motor Vehicles Act.

A sessions court earlier on Wednesday remanded the boy's father, and two employees of Hotel Blak Club where the boy had allegedly consumed alcohol, in police custody.

The police registered a case against his father under sections 75 and 77 of the Juvenile Justice Act, and against the owner and employees of two bars which the boy had visited before Sunday's accident for "serving alcohol to an underage person".

Section 75 deals with "willful neglect of a child, or exposing a child to mental or physical illnesses," while section 77 deals with supplying a child with intoxicating liquor or drugs.

Process to Cancel Temporary Registration Of Porsche Underway

The Regional Transport Office has started the process to cancel the temporary registration of the Porsche, PTI reported quoting an official.

The electric luxury sports sedan – Porsche Taycan – was reportedly imported in March by a dealer in Bengaluru before being sent to Maharashtra on temporary registration.

Even as the Pune car crash incident made headlines, a similar tragedy took place in Mumbai on Thursday when a 32-year-old man died after his motorbike collided with a juvenile’s motorbike in south Mumbai.

Irfan Nawab Ali Shaikh was rushed to JJ Hospital where he later succumbed to his injuries.

(With inputs from PTI)