The dean of a Pune-based hospital has claimed that Dr Ajay Taware, who is accused of swapping the blood sample of the 17-year-old boy involved in the Porsche car crash, had been appointed as superintendent after approval from the state's medical education minister. Despite being an accused in kidney transplant and drugs cases, Dr Taware was appointed the head of the Forensic Medical Department, said Vinayak Kale, the dean of Sassoon General Hospital.
Kale claimed that Dr Taware's appointment was recommended by Sunil Tingre, a legislator, to Medical Education Minister Hasan Mushrif. Both Tingre and Mushrif belong to the Ajit Pawar faction of the NCP, which is a part of the ruling BJP-Shiv Sena alliance headed by Chief Minister Eknath Shinde.
The teenager, who is the son of a city-based builder, drank alcohol at a restaurant and club before driving the Porsche car at a high speed and ramming a bike on May 19, killing two techies.
PUNE CRASH: TOP POINTS
The senior police officer told news agency PTI, "By leveraging these AI tools, we aim to reconstruct the entire accident and crime scene in detail. The objective is to create a comprehensive visualisation of the crime/accident scene to enhance evidence appreciation."
The digital reconstruction involves recreating the route from the teen's home to Cosie Restaurant to Blak Club in Mundhwa area, and from the club to the accident spot in Kalyani Nagar area. As per the police, the juvenile, who is in the observation home, had partied in Cosie restaurant and Blak Club.
Police had collected a large volume of CCTV footage along the route taken by the juvenile, leading to the spot of the accident, which will come in handy in the digital reconstruction of the accident site.
"There are some AI simulated models and core softwares wherein if CCTV camera footage, photos or spot photos are inputted, they can create some 3D image or 3D walk-through," the officer said.
Meanwhile, Pune-based Sassoon General Hospital sacked Dr Shrihari Halnor, who was accused of manipulating the blood sample of the teen driver. Dr Halnor, the chief medical officer of the state-run hospital, where the minor was taken for medical tests after the accident, was arrested on Monday.
According to the police, Dr Halnor, who had taken the blood sample from the juvenile, revealed that he had changed the blood sample on the directions of Dr Taware.
Before the minor's blood samples were collected, the teen driver's father, Vishal Agarwal, communicated with Dr Taware via WhatsApp, and FaceTime calls, as well as a single general call, police sources said, adding that there were 14 such calls in total. The calls were made between 8.30 am and 10.40 am on May 19 and the blood samples were taken at 11 am.
The Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report showed no alcohol in the first blood sample, which raised suspicions. Later, a second blood test conducted at a different hospital and DNA tests confirmed the samples were from two different individuals.
This led investigators to suspect that the doctors at the Sassoon General Hospital had tampered with the evidence to protect the accused juvenile.
Police said the action was taken against the doctors after the teen's original blood sample was disposed of in a dustbin.
The 17-year-old boy involved in the Pune crash has been sent to a Children Observation Centre for 14 days.
Earlier, the police had arrested the minor's father and grandfather for allegedly trying to stall the investigation. Both are in judicial custody until May 31.
