Pune Juvenile’s Bail Cancelled in Fatal Porsche Crash; Sent to Remand Home

The bail of the Pune based inebriated juvenile who allegedly rammed his Porsche into a motorcycle, killing two IT professionals in their 20s, has been cancelled.

The Juvenile Justice Board has sent him to a remand home till June 5. It did not, however, give a decision on whether he should be tried as an adult.

The police, after a huge backlash on social media, had approached the juvenile justice board seeking permission to try the accused teenager, who is 17 years and eight months old, as an adult.

You may recall that after the 2012, Nirbhaya case, there was an amendment in the law stipulating that in heinous crimes, accused juveniles who are above 16 should be tried as adults. A decision on this plea is also expected today.

The Pune police, apart from the juvenile, have arrested five people including his father, Vishal Agarwal.
According to the remand copy, Vishal Agarwal was not cooperating with police in the investigation therefore, Pune police sought his custody for further questioning.
Soon after receiving a notice to join the investigation, the father of the juvenile, Vishal Agarwal, tried to flee through an elaborate plan.
He initially stated that he was in Shirdi but he actually was in Aurangabad. Soon after he left home in his car and asked the driver to take the road to Mumbai. He told another driver to leave for Goa in his other car. On the way to Mumbai, he exchanged his car with that of a friend’s and proceeded towards Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (Aurangabad).

The police tracked the vehicle through its GPS systems and CCTV camera footage on the route, after confirming that Vishal was using his friend’s car.
When Vishal was arrested he was carrying a simple Nokia phone and a Kia company-manufactured car. Both have been confiscated by the police.

Agarwal is a prominent real estate developer. He is believed to be the owner of a Public Limited Company listed in 2013, Bramhacorp Limited. Its net worth is believed to be about Rs. 600/- Crore.

A family business, Brahma Corp, was founded by the minor accused’s great-grandfather, Brahmadatt Agarwal.
The company currently has eight ongoing and three upcoming projects in Pune. It also operates two five-star hotels including Le Meridien in Mahabaleshwar and Grand Sheraton in Pune. The family also owns businesses such as Brahma Multispace and Brahma Multicon.

In a separate FIR, the Pune police have booked the owners of the two restaurants, Pralhad Bhutada of Cosie and Sandip Sangale, the proprietor of Blak Club, for serving alcohol to minors under the relevant sections of the IPC.