Pune Porsche Accident Case: Two Doctors From Sassoon General Hospital Arrested for Manipulation of Blood Samples

In the case surrounding the Pune Porsche crash involving a juvenile, two doctors, Dr. Ajay Taware and Dr. Srihari Halnor from Sassoon General Hospital in Pune, have been arrested. Police have arrested the doctors on suspicion of manipulating blood samples.

"They have been arrested for alleged manipulation of blood samples and destruction of evidence in the case," a senior police official said.

पुण्यातील कल्याणीनगर कार अपघात प्रकरणात ससुन रुग्णालयाच्या 2 डाॕक्टरांना अटक करण्यात आली आहे.

ब्लड रिपोर्ट मधे फेरफार केल्याचा त्यांच्यावर आरोप आहे.तुम्हाला आम्हाला काही तासात मिळणारे ब्लड रिपोर्ट या केसमध्ये जेव्हा ७ दिवस होऊनही मिळत नव्हते तेव्हाच हा प्रकार संशयास्पद वाटत…

— Ravindra Dhangekar Official (@DhangekarINC) May 27, 2024

Two doctors from Sassoon Hospital have been apprehended in connection with a car accident in Kalyaninagar, Pune. They stand accused of altering the blood report. In this instance, the blood report, typically delivered within a few hours, was not provided even after 7 days. At the same hospital, relatives of the deceased Ashwini Costa requested a half-hour extension to keep the body in the mortuary, citing the pending arrival of their ambulance. However, the hospital administration declined the request, Congress leader Ravindra Dhangekar posted on X.

An FIR has been registered against the accused doctors and the father of the Child In Conflict with the Law (CCL) under sections 10(b) (Criminal Conspiracy), 467 (forgery of documents), 201 (destroying evidence), 213 (accepting bribe) and 214 (offering bribe).

The Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar stated that the blood samples were changed by the accused in the Sassoon General Hospital. The accused destroyed the original sample obtained from the CCL and disposed of it in the trash can and produced a blood sample of a unknown person and labeled it as the bold sample of the CCL.

However, as Commissioner Amitesh Kumar had suspected a wrong doing with the collected blood sample, the Pune Police had collected a second blood sample which was sent to a DNA test at the Aundh District Hospital. The sample at the Aundh Hospital matched with the DNA of the father of the CCL and as the sample at the Sassoon Hospital did not match the police suspected conspiracy and arrested the doctors involved in the act.

However no traces of alcohol were found in any of the samples which were checked by the medical team of Aundh and Sassoon hospital. The blood sample presented at the Aundh Hospital was taken almost 20 hours after the accident.

As per the police, the father of the CCL had been in touch with Dr. Ajay Taware who is HOD of the forensic medicine department at the Sassoon General Hospital. The technical evidence confirms that the father of the CCL offered Dr. Ajay Taware gifts to change the blood samples.

Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, “We received Intel inputs about the blood samples and accordingly we dispatched a team and arrested both the doctors involved in changing the blood samples. The suspended police officers of the Yerwada police station will also be investigated for their involvement. However the blood report will not affect the course of the case as our case is not dependent on the blood test. It is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder.”

The CCTV footage and the DVR are investigated and the accused including the father of the minor will be produced in the court today. Total three crimes have been filed in the Porsche case including the abduction case in which the court has granted police custody to the grandfather of the accused. The Pune Police have also moved an remand application to obtain police custody of the father of the CCL who is currently in judicial custody. 

In the early hours of May 19, tragedy struck as two IT professionals lost their lives when their motorcycle was struck by a speeding Porsche, reportedly driven by a minor. Police allege that the teenager was intoxicated at the time of the incident. Initially granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board, the minor was instructed to write an essay on road accidents. However, amidst public outcry over the perceived leniency, and with a review application filed by the police, the minor has been remanded to an observation home until June 5.