Pune cops arrest juvenile Porsche driver’s mother

PUNE: The mother of a 17-year-old boy involved in the May 19 Porsche Taycan crash in Pune was arrested Saturday afternoon for allegedly giving her blood sample in place of her son's for the alcohol test to determine if he was driving under the influence when the luxury electric car fatally hit two software engineers on a bike at 160kmph.

Pune police crime branch initially detained the 49-year-old woman around 6.30am at her Wadgaonsheri bungalow. "We have recorded her statement. She said doctors at the hospital had asked her to give her blood instead of her son's. She pretended not to know why the doctors told her that," Pune police commissioner Amitesh Kumar said, following her arrest later in the day.

The mother was arrested on charges of forgery and destruction of evidence after DNA analysis revealed the sample did not belong to her son. A Maharashtra government-appointed committee reported that a woman and two elderly people provided blood samples instead of the boy's after the crash. "We will take her blood samples afresh for DNA fingerprinting tests to confirm if she gave her blood for the test," a crime branch officer said.

Police were unable to contact the boy's mother for four days. "The woman had gone to Mumbai. She returned to Pune late Friday night. Our team went to the bungalow after we came to know about her return," the officer added.

Upon detention, a cop handed her a notice to be present at the observation home to record her son's statement in her presence. ACP (crime) Shailesh Balkawade said: "We recorded the boy's statement in the presence of his mother."

According to a crime branch officer: "The boy knows how he left his bungalow, where he went with friends, and how he took the wheel of the Porsche. We have collected vidence over the past 12 days and wanted to corroborate it with his statement."

Police have already arrested Dr Ajay Taware, Dr Shrihari Halnor, and mortuary staffer Atul Ghatkamble of Sassoon hospital for allegedly swapping the blood sample.

Stay updated with the latest news on Times of India. Don't miss daily games like Crossword, Sudoku, and Mini Crossword.