Pune car crash case: Mother's blood sample allegedly swapped with minor's

Police sources have claimed that Shivani Agarwal, the mother of the 17-year-old boy involved in the fatal Porsche car crash in Pune, had allegedly given her blood sample, which was then swapped with her son's at the city's Sassoon General Hospital.

According to the sources, the blood sample was taken by Dr Shrihari Halnor, one of the doctors accused of manipulating the blood sample of the teen driver, and his staff. Agarwal was present at the hospital when the test happened and is currently absconding after the arrest of Dr Halnor and Dr Ajay Tawade, another accused in the case.

The police are actively searching for Agarwal's whereabouts as the investigation unfolds.

The incident occurred on May 19, when the teenager, the son of a city-based builder, allegedly drank alcohol at a restaurant and club before driving the Porsche at a high speed and ramming into a bike, killing two IT professionals, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta.

In the wake of the developments, the Sassoon General Hospital has sacked Dr Halnor, the chief medical officer, who was arrested on Monday. Dr Halnor revealed that he had changed the blood sample on the directions of Dr Tawade, who was appointed as the superintendent of the hospital on the recommendation of an MLA and approval from the state's medical education minister.

Raising further suspicions, the Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) report showed no alcohol in the first blood sample, leading to a second blood test at a different hospital and DNA tests, which confirmed that the samples were from two different individuals.

The investigation has uncovered that before the minor's blood samples were collected, the teen driver's father, Vishal Agarwal, communicated with Dr Tawade via WhatsApp, FaceTime calls, and a single general call, totaling 14 calls between 8:30 am and 10:40 am on May 19, with the blood samples being taken at 11 am.