Pune Porsche crash: Special probe panel reaches Sassoon Hospital

Taking a grim view of the blood sample change of the prime accused in the Porsche crash in a government hospital, the state administration has appointed a 3-member special panel to probe the matter and submit its report, officials said here on Tuesday.

The probe panel is headed by Dr Pallavi Saple, Head of Sir J. J. Hospital in Mumbai; Dr Gajanan Chauhan of Grant Medical College in Mumbai; and Dr Sudhir Choudhary of Government Medical College & Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar.

The special panel members have reached the Sassoon Hospital here to quiz the Dean and other officials in the wake of the shocking revelations that some medicos and staffers had tampered with the blood samples of the minor accused in the Porsche crash that killed two techies.

When questioned, Dr Saple told media persons that the panel would inquire into all aspects and submit its report to the government, though she did not indicate a time frame.

After the sensational revelations, Commissioner of Police Amitesh Kumar had told media persons that the 17-year-old boy’s blood sample was thrown in the dustbin, and replaced with the blood sample of another person in a bid to save the minor accused.

The two Sassoon Hospital medicos -- Head of Forensics Dr Ajay Taware and Blood Bank’s Dr Shrihari Halnor, besides a peon Atul Ghatkamble -- have been arrested and remanded to police custody till May 30.

Shiv Sena (UBT) Deputy Leader Sushma Andhare has slammed the state government’s probe panel saying that the chairperson Dr Pallavi Saple is herself “buried in a cloud of corruption”, and she must be removed.

“She is facing many corruption charges… The allegations were levelled by MahaYuti’s Shiv Sena MLA Yamini Jadhav (of Chief Minister Eknath Shinde). The government must answer what action has been taken against her,” demanded Andhare.

Shiv Sena-UBT’s Leader of Opposition (Council) Ambadas Danve said that the probe panel is not acceptable and reiterated the demand for a judicial probe into the Porsche crash, the subsequent investigations and the hospital irregularities that have emerged.

Asked about the charges against her, Dr Saple declined comments saying that she has been appointed by the government.

After the stunning revelations, the state-appointed the probe panel to investigate the set of circumstances leading to the tampering with the samples and blood test reports.

Kumar said that Dr Taware was in contact with the arrested builder Vishal S. Agarwal (father of the minor accused) on WhatsApp.

The ongoing Crime Branch probe has thrown up a money trail involving at least two of the accused, and the name of another hospital staffer has also cropped up.