No pressure on Pune police over car crash probe, says Dy CM Fadnavis

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis on Tuesday asserted no police negligence has come to light while handling the Pune car crash involving a 17-year-old boy and denied any kind of pressure on cops probing the case.

A Porsche car allegedly driven by the 17-year-old, who the police claim was drunk at the time, fatally knocked down two motorbike-borne software engineers in Kalyani Nagar in Pune city in the early hours of Sunday. The teen's father, a builder, and four persons linked to two restaurants where he was served liquor before the fatal crash have been arrested by the police.

Amid an outrage over the accident, Fadnavis, who holds the home portfolio, made a surprise visit to the Pune Police commissionerate to review the case, and later addressed the media.

On demands from residents to advance closing time of pubs from 1.30 am now to 11 pm, Fadnavis said he has asked the police department to submit a report on the issue.

Asked about the Porsche car being allowed to ply without registration, he said the high-end vehicle was purchased in Bengaluru and brought to Pune.

"As per preliminary information, the Pune RTO carried out an inspection of the car but road tax which was required to be paid was not paid. If there is any violation regarding that, a separate FIR will be registered," Fadnavis maintained.

He said there was no pressure the police regarding the case.

"There was no pressure on the police in this case and no negligence has been found. An ACP-rank officer has been asked to check the CCTV footage of the police station during the entire period (post the juvenile's detention) to check whether someone was helping (the boy) or putting pressure (on police). If something of this kind is found, action will be taken," Fadnavis assured.

"Police have taken the case seriously and police will not tolerate someone getting bail despite fatally knocking down two persons," he said.

The boy was granted bail by the Juvenile Justice Board hours after his detention.

Concerns have been raised regarding pubs and restaurants not strictly checking age of consumers to prevent underage drinking, said Fadnavis.

"The police have been instructed to enforce rules formulated for liquor serving establishments," said the home minister.

He said instructions have been given to the excise department and municipal corporations to verify whether conditions imposed while issuing licences to these establishments are being followed or not.

Earlier in the day, Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut demanded removal of Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar over the car crash.

Talking to reporters in Mumbai, Raut alleged the police gave a false report in connection with the incident and wondered whom the Pune police chief was trying to save.

Raut said, "The Pune police commissioner should be sacked. Whom has he helped in this case? Two innocent persons lost their lives. The boy can be seen drinking in pub.