Pune, 31 May

The Pune police have written to the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) seeking permission to probe the minor allegedly involved in the Porsche crash that left two techies dead, amid the new twist involving blood samples, an official said on Friday.

Police claim the 17-year-old was driving the luxury car in an inebriated state when it met with the fatal accident in the city's Kalyani Nagar area on 19 May. He is in an observation home till 5 June. “We have written to the JJ Board and sought their permission to allow us to probe the minor in the case, said Shailesh Balkawade, additional commissioner of police (crime).

According to the Juvenile Justice Act, the inquiry of a minor is to be conducted in the presence of parents. The cops would probe the teen amid new developments in the accident case, including the alleged swapping of blood samples at the Sassoon General Hospital in which two doctors have been arrested.

The JJB granted bail to the teenager, son of real estate developer Vishal Agarwal, a few hours after the 19 May crash and asked him to write a 300-word essay on road safety. Amid heavy criticism, police again approached the JJB, which modified the order and sent him to an observation home till 5 June.

After the bail was given to the juvenile by a single member of the JJ Board, the Maharashtra government had set up a committee to probe the conduct of the JJB members and check if norms were followed while issuing orders in the Pune car crash case. “The committee, headed by a deputy commissioner, is currently carrying out the inquiry and will submit its report by next week,” said Prashant Narnavare, commissioner of the Women and Child Department.

He added that the JJB comprises a member from the judiciary and two persons appointed by the state government and the current enquiry has been set up to probe the conduct of the state-appointed members.

The minor's father and grandfather have been arrested for allegedly wrongfully confining their family driver, luring him with cash and gifts and later threatening him to take the blame for the crash. The police have also arrested two doctors and a staffer from Sassoon General Hospital here for allegedly manipulating the teenager's blood samples to show that he was not drunk at the time of the accident.