Mumbai: After the Pune Porsche accident on Sunday, May 19 that killed two people after a minor boy was drunk driving, police in Pune and nearby Mumbai are cracking down on hotels, pubs and bars. On Sunday, May 26, the Mumbai Police booked the manager and waiter of a bar in suburban Powai for serving liquor to a minor boy. The incident happened at the Lotus Bar and Restaurant on Saki Vihar Road in Powai.

A leading daily reports that during ‘Operation All Out’, a preventive action operation by the Mumbai Police, Assistant Police Inspector (API) Santosh Kamble received information that a minor was being served liquor at the Lotus Bar and Restaurant. API Kamble and his team raided the bar just before midnight and indeed found a minor - a 16-year-old boy - being served alcohol. 

The waiter, Vikas Rana, admitted to serving liquor to the teenager in spite of the rules stating that liquor cannot be served to customers below the age of 18. The police held the manager, Tek Bahadur Ayer, and waiter Vikas Rana, who were taken to the Powai police station and a first information report filed against them under Section 77 of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015, said the report.

The police seized the liquor served to the minor boy. The 16-year-old was handed over to his parents.

Pune Porsche Crash Case Update

A series of lapses in the police investigation of the Pune Porsche crash case have emerged. Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar admitted to blood samples of the minor being tampered with to give him a clean chit.

Immediately after the accident that killed Ashwini Koshta and Aneesh Awadhiya, the minor was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on lame conditions like “Write a 300-word essay” on the accident. After public outcry over the leniency, the minor’s bail was cancelled and he was sent to an observation home until June 5.

During the investigation, it was found that the minor belonged to a rich builder family who had connections with the underworld and also tried to put the blame of the accident on the family’s driver. The police subsequently arrested the teenager’s father, Vishal Agarwal, and his grandfather, Surendra Kumar Agarwal.

Two doctors of Sassoon Hospital were also arrested for changing the blood samples of the minor and throwing the original sample in the dustbin.
Further investigation is on in both cases.