Teen's grandfather arrested, 'forced' driver to take blame

The Pune Police on Saturday arrested Surendra Agarwal, the grandfather of the 17-year-old boy who fatally rammed his Porsche car into two IT professionals on May 19.

Surendra Agarwal has been accused of threatening the driver, Gangaram, and forcing him to give statements to the police that he was driving the Porsche during the accident that killed Aneesh Awadhiya and his partner Ashwini Koshta. Surendra Agarwal was arrested at 3 am from his residence in a new case registered by the Pune crime branch. This is the third FIR in the Pune Porsche crash case.

Surendra Agarwal has been arrested after the family's driver alleged that he was wrongfully confined, threatened and told to take the blame for the accident, sources in the police have said. He has been charged under IPC sections relating to kidnapping and wrongful confinement, the sources added.

Pune Police yesterday said efforts were made to force the driver to take blame minutes after the accident. After the accident, the grandfather locked up the driver and asked him to take the blame as the family tried to shield the minor, the sources said. Surendra Agrawal also told Gangaram that the family would ensure he is released too, the sources added.

"The teen's grandfather and father allegedly took the driver's phone, put him in confinement in his house on the premises of their bungalow from May 19 to May 20. The driver was freed by his wife," said an official from the crime branch, which is probing the case.

Earlier, CBI sources said that Surendra Agarwal was facing trial in a shootout case for allegedly making payments to gangster Chhota Rajan.

The matter dates back to a 2009 attack on a Shiv Sena corporator Ajay Bhosale. According to the CBI chargesheet filed in the case, the boy's grandfather was locked in a property dispute with his brother and had allegedly contacted Chhota Rajan to mediate. The gangster got in touch with Shiv Sena corporator Ajay Bhosale, who knew the brother. But Mr Bhosale was busy with the Assembly polls that year and refused to intervene. The boy's grandfather suspected that the Shiv Sena leader was backing his brother and allegedly asked Chhota Rajan to bump him off, the CBI chargesheet said. The Shiv Sena leader's car was fired at near Pune's Koregaon Park, but the bullet missed him and hit his driver instead, injuring him.