Fadnavis promises comprehensive investigation into Pune accident case

Mumbai: Maharashtra deputy chief minister Devendra Fadnavis on Wednesday said that a comprehensive investigation will be done in the Pune car accident case after reports emerged that the family members of the accused person had links with the underworld. According to reports, the grandfather of the accused took help of Chhota Rajan in a property dispute with his brothers a few years ago.

When asked about the CBI case in which the minor’s grandfather Surendra Kumar Agarwal is facing trial in connection with a shootout linked to underworld don Chhota Rajan, Fadnavis said, “Whatever connection there is, the complete investigation will be done. Action will be taken on everything.”

Maharashtra deputy CM also slammed Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for trying to politicise the case. Reacting to the incident, Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi, accusing him of creating two Indias where justice is dependent on wealth. In a video posted on X, the Congress leader said if a bus driver, truck driver, or any Ola, Uber or auto driver accidentally kills someone, they are sentenced to 10 years in jail, but a son of a rich man is asked to write an essay.

“Yesterday, Rahul Gandhi released a video on Pune car crash. I believe this is a very low-level attempt to politicise the accident. Police acted very swiftly in this accident. We have also expressed our astonishment over the order of the Juvenile Justice Board. Police filed an appeal against it and the higher court has taken cognisance. The police have done whatever is necessary. The attempt to bring electoral politics into every issue by Rahul Gandhi is wrong. I condemn this,” Fadnavis said.

A Porsche car allegedly driven by a 17-year-old, who the police claim was drunk at the time, fatally knocked down two motorcycle-borne software engineers in Kalyani Nagar in Pune city in the early hours of Sunday. The incident snowballed into a major political controversy after the Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the minor within a few hours and asked him to write an essay on road accidents.

Fadnavis said the JJB decision was “astonishing” and the police took the case seriously from the beginning by invoking section 304 of IPC (culpable homicide) even before the accused was produced before the court. “Those who served alcohol to the underage child have been arrested, and the father who gave him the car has been arrested as well. The police have done whatever is necessary,” he said.