High-Profile Pune Car Accident Spurs Review of Juvenile Justice Act

A 17-year-old boy crashed a Porsche in Pune, killing two. The boy, allegedly drunk, was sent to an observation home while police questioned his grandfather and associates. The incident has sparked debate over the Juvenile Justice Act, with calls for its review.

The Pune police on Thursday questioned the grandfather of the 17-year-old boy who allegedly crashed his high-end car into a motorbike killing two persons in the city recently, while a forensic team examined the Porsche car involved in the accident. an official said.

The accused teenager's one of the friends and the former's driver who were accompanying him in the car when the accident occurred in Kalyani Nagar area, were also questioned by the crime branch officials who are probing the case.

A Porsche car, allegedly driven by the minor accused, who the police claim was drunk at the time, fatally knocked down two motorbike-borne software engineers at Kalyani Nagar in the city in the early hours of Sunday.

The teenager was sent to the observation home by the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Wednesday.

''The grandfather, one of the friends of the teenager who was with him in the car when the accident took place, and the driver were questioned today in connection with the car accident,'' a crime branch official said.

The police have already arrested the teenager's father, who is a prominent city-based builder.

While the minor's grandfather was being taken to confront his son at the police commissionerate, some reporters tried to ask him questions, following which a man accompanying him heckled and obstructed them. It led to a heated exchange of words before the police intervened. It was a team of police personnel who whisked away the man inside a room to ensure that the situation did not escalate further. The boy's grandfather and his son, who is already in police custody, were confronted as some facts related to the case needed to be corroborated, the official said.

''Since the luxury car is in the name of the realty firm owned by the Agarwals, the grandfather of the minor, who is one of the owners of the firm, was questioned in regards to the ownership of the car,'' he said. A friend of the minor who was with him in the car was also questioned to verify and corroborate the sequence of events that took place in the intervening night of Saturday and Sunday, he added.

The police, while seeking the custody of the minor's father, had told the court on Wednesday that as the juvenile wanted to drive the car, the driver called his employer (minor's father) and told him about his son's demand and it was his dad who told the driver to let his son drive the car.

The officer said that the driver may be presented in the court as a witness in the case.

Meanwhile, the cops are collecting CCTV footage of the entire route through which the car traversed - from residence to Cosie restaurant, then to Blak Club and from there to the accident spot, to see who was driving the car.

A forensic team also carried out an examination of the Porsche car which was involved in the accident.

''A team today conducted the examination of the car, which is in the possession of the Yerawada police station. We have already carried out the forensic examination of the spot and now the car has also been examined. The technical aspects such as GPS, the cameras around the car were examined,'' said another senior police officer, who is currently monitoring the investigation.

The police said that they have seized one phone belonging to the minor's father who is currently in police custody. Meanwhile, BJP leader and Rajya Sabha member Medha Kulkarni posted on X saying that the accident showed the Juvenile Justice Act needs to be reviewed as so-called minors like this boy are using the law to get away with serious crimes.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)