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Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Conclusive DNA proof to show mother's blood swapped with accused minor's: Prosecution to court
As the prosecution in the Porsche crash opened its case and presented its argument towards framing of charges before a court, Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray submitted to the court that there was technical and scientific evidence to probe the conspiracy involving all 10 accused, including the DNA evidence that conclusively establishes that the blood sample of the accused minor driver's mother was collected in his place at Sassoon General Hospital. On May 19 last year, two young IT engineers — Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta — were killed after a speeding Porsche car, allegedly driven by an inebriated 17-and-a-half-year-old from a Pune realtor's family, rammed into their motorcycle at Kalyani Nagar junction. Special Prosecutor Hiray said, 'Today we opened the prosecution case under CrPC section 226. We submitted to the court what evidence we have against the 10 accused and based on that, what charges can be framed. I submitted that this was a major conspiracy in which all the 10 accused are involved. The conspiracy was to shield the inebriated CCL (Child in Conflict with the Law) and his co-passenger friends from any action by the court. And for this, the evidence was destroyed and fake evidence was fabricated. In this manner, a fraud was committed with the judiciary, which has been our argument from the beginning.' Section 226 of the Criminal Procedure Code pertains to the prosecutor opening the case by describing the charges brought against the accused and stating by what evidence prosecution proposes to prove the guilt of the accused. Hiray added, 'We explained to the court what evidence we have to prove this conspiracy. We have witness statements, technical evidence, scientific evidence, we have also recovered the money exchanged in the offence as part of the conspiracy and how the evidence established the role of each of the accused. For example we have established how money exchanged hands and how Sassoon doctors tampered with sample collection. We have DNA evidence conclusively proving that in the place of the CCL, his mother's blood sample was taken. Also, how the blood sample of one co-passenger's friend was swapped with that of his father, and another co-passenger's sample was exchanged with that of a third person. We have also established the money trail for the swapping of blood samples of the co-passengers.' He further said, We have submitted reports of the Test Identification Parade establishing the identities of the accused. We have submitted CCTV footages that place the accused at various locations during the conspiracy. We have also submitted reports of the handwriting experts. We have said that all 10 accused who were part of the conspiracy had the same intention. We have said that all 10 accused need not be at one place to hatch the conspiracy. We thus presented the entire landscape of the conspiracy to the court and requested that the charges be framed against these accused.' Following the incident on May 19, police investigation unravelled alleged cover-ups, bribery, abuse of power, and tampering with blood samples at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital. The fatal accident had taken place after the minor and his friends had celebrated their Class 12 exam results at a pub. The minor was allegedly driving a Porsche Taycan luxury car which did not have number plates. Other than the minor driver, the police have till now arraigned and chargesheeted a total of 10 accused. The 51-year-old realtor father and 50-year-old mother of the minor have been charged with criminal conspiracy for allegedly orchestrating a swap of the minor driver's blood sample—collected at Sassoon Hospital—with the mother's. Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the forensic medicine of Sassoon hospital, Dr Shrihari Halnor, then casualty medical officer; Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer at the hospital's morgue; and Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, who acted as middlemen between the minor's father and the doctors, have all been arraigned. Pune police have also arrested and charged a 37-year-old man who had given his blood to be swapped with that of a minor co-passenger and along with the father of that co-passenger. The 52-year-old father of another minor co-passenger, was also arrested earlier for giving his own blood sample to be swapped with his son. Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More
Indian Express
3 days ago
- Indian Express
Conclusive DNA proof to show mother's blood taken instead of minor's: Prosecution to court
As the prosecution in the Porsche crash opened its case and presented its argument towards framing of charges before a court, Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray submitted to the court that there was technical and scientific evidence to probe the conspiracy involving all 10 accused, including the DNA evidence that conclusively establishes that the blood sample of the accused minor driver's mother was collected in his place at Sassoon General Hospital. On May 19 last year, two young IT engineers — Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta — were killed after a speeding Porsche car, allegedly driven by an inebriated 17-and-a-half-year-old from a Pune realtor's family, rammed into their motorcycle at Kalyani Nagar junction. Special Prosecutor Hiray said, 'Today we opened the prosecution case under CrPC section 226. We submitted to the court what evidence we have against the 10 accused and based on that, what charges can be framed. I submitted that this was a major conspiracy in which all the 10 accused are involved. The conspiracy was to shield the inebriated CCL (Child in Conflict with the Law) and his co-passenger friends from any action by the court. And for this, the evidence was destroyed and fake evidence was fabricated. In this manner, a fraud was committed with the judiciary, which has been our argument from the beginning.' Section 226 of the Criminal Procedure Code pertains to the prosecutor opening the case by describing the charges brought against the accused and stating by what evidence prosecution proposes to prove the guilt of the accused. Hiray added, 'We explained to the court what evidence we have to prove this conspiracy. We have witness statements, technical evidence, scientific evidence, we have also recovered the money exchanged in the offence as part of the conspiracy and how the evidence established the role of each of the accused. For example we have established how money exchanged hands and how Sassoon doctors tampered with sample collection. We have DNA evidence conclusively proving that in the place of the CCL, his mother's blood sample was taken. Also, how the blood sample of one co-passenger's friend was swapped with that of his father, and another co-passenger's sample was exchanged with that of a third person. We have also established the money trail for the swapping of blood samples of the co-passengers.' He further said, We have submitted reports of the Test Identification Parade establishing the identities of the accused. We have submitted CCTV footages that place the accused at various locations during the conspiracy. We have also submitted reports of the handwriting experts. We have said that all 10 accused who were part of the conspiracy had the same intention. We have said that all 10 accused need not be at one place to hatch the conspiracy. We thus presented the entire landscape of the conspiracy to the court and requested that the charges be framed against these accused.' Following the incident on May 19, police investigation unravelled alleged cover-ups, bribery, abuse of power, and tampering with blood samples at the government-run Sassoon General Hospital. The fatal accident had taken place after the minor and his friends had celebrated their Class 12 exam results at a pub. The minor was allegedly driving a Porsche Taycan luxury car which did not have number plates. Other than the minor driver, the police have till now arraigned and chargesheeted a total of 10 accused. The 51-year-old realtor father and 50-year-old mother of the minor have been charged with criminal conspiracy for allegedly orchestrating a swap of the minor driver's blood sample—collected at Sassoon Hospital—with the mother's. Dr Ajay Taware, then head of the forensic medicine of Sassoon hospital, Dr Shrihari Halnor, then casualty medical officer; Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer at the hospital's morgue; and Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, who acted as middlemen between the minor's father and the doctors, have all been arraigned. Pune police have also arrested and charged a 37-year-old man who had given his blood to be swapped with that of a minor co-passenger and along with the father of that co-passenger. The 52-year-old father of another minor co-passenger, was also arrested earlier for giving his own blood sample to be swapped with his son. Sushant Kulkarni is a Special Correspondent with The Indian Express in Pune with 12+ years of experience covering issues related to Crime, Defence, Internal Security and Courts. He has been associated with the Indian Express since July 2010. Sushant has extensively reported on law and order issues of Pune and surrounding area, Cyber crime, narcotics trade and terrorism. His coverage in the Defence beat includes operational aspects of the three services, the defence research and development and issues related to key defence establishments. He has covered several sensitive cases in the courts at Pune. Sushant is an avid photographer, plays harmonica and loves cooking. ... Read More
Indian Express
02-06-2025
- Indian Express
Witness in murder of journalist Gauri Lankesh complains of receiving threat call ahead of court appearance
A panchnama witness involved in the identification of a house in the Belagavi region of Karnataka that was allegedly used to finalise the conspiracy to kill the journalist Gauri Lankesh has complained of receiving a threat ahead of his visit to a special court in Bengaluru to testify in the trial of 17 persons arrested for the September 5, 2017, murder of the journalist. The witness who ran a business in Belagavi had rented the house, which had been used by members of a right-wing crime syndicate involved in the murder of Gauri Lankesh. He was made a panchnama witness when three accused persons in the case – Sharad (Kalaskar), Ganesh (Miskin), and Amit (Baddi) – identified the house. The 55-year-old witness, who was summoned to the witness box last week, complained to the state public prosecutor (SPP) of receiving a threatening phone call ahead of his visit, and based on the complaint, the SPP filed a memo in the special court during the trial on May 28. 'Learned Spl. P.P. has filed a memo along with a requisition of CW (court witness)… Copy of the requisition is served on learned counsel for the accused,' the court noted. 'Despite the threats, the witness stuck to his statement in court,' a prosecution source said. During the trial, the witness said that he had rented a house in Belagavi, and police officials brought two suspects in the murder case – Ganesh (Miskin) and Amit (Baddi) – to the house in August 2018. In September 2018, they brought a third accused identified as Sharad (Kalaskar). A fourth accused was also brought, but the witness claimed to have forgotten his name. In the court, the witness identified Amit (Baddi), Shrikant (Pangarkar), and Sharad (Kalaskar) among the accused persons who were brought to the house where the alleged conspiracy occurred, but said he could not identify the fourth person due to the passage of time. During the trial of the murder case last week, one of the prosecution witnesses turned hostile. The witness had earlier given a detailed statement to a magistrate about his participation in multiple training camps for the use of guns and explosives conducted by a Hindutva syndicate, which is implicated in the murder of Gauri Lankesh. The 37-year-old prosecution witness, who is involved in grassroots politics in the Belagavi region of Karnataka, was declared hostile by the state special public prosecutor on Wednesday after he denied all the statements he had earlier made before a magistrate in September 2018 under Section 164 of the Criminal Procedure Code, 1973. The witness who had identified several persons arrested for the murder of Gauri Lankesh as participants in the training camps also rejected the Test Identification Parade he had participated in at the Bengaluru prison in November 2018 and claimed that he had identified the accused persons under police duress. During a cross-examination in the court after being declared hostile by the prosecution, the witness denied the charge that he was deviating from his earlier statements due to pressure from the accused persons – most of whom were granted bail last year. Gauri Lankesh died after four bullets were fired at her by a man now identified by the SIT as Parashuram Waghmore, a former activist of the right-wing Sri Rama Sene outfit. A forensic analysis of the four empty cartridges and the four bullets fired to kill Lankesh showed that the markings on the bullets and cartridges were the same as markings found on bullets and cartridges seized from the site of the killing of Kannada scholar and researcher M M Kalburgi in the northern Karnataka town of Dharwad on August 30, 2015. Findings from the comparison of ballistic evidence from the Lankesh and Kalburgi cases also revealed that the 7.65 mm country-made gun used in the two murders in Karnataka had also been used in the shooting of the Leftist thinker Govind Pansare, 81, in Maharashtra's Kolhapur on February 16, 2015. The ballistic evidence indicated that one of the two guns used in the Pansare murder was used to kill the rationalist Narendra Dabholkar, 69, in Pune on August 20, 2013. The Karnataka Special Investigation Team (SIT) has named 17 people from right-wing fringe outfits for the conspiracy and murder of Gauri Lankesh. The accused have been charged with murder and involvement in an organised crime activity under the Karnataka Control of Organized Crimes Act, (KCOCA) 2000. 'The members of this organisation targeted persons whom they identified to be inimical to their belief and ideology. The members strictly followed the guidelines and principles mentioned in 'Kshatra Dharma Sadhana', a book published by Sanatan Sanstha,' the SIT said after it filed a 9,235-page chargesheet on November 23, 2018.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Time of India
Two accused in 2003 Kolkata gang-rape case acquitted 20 years later
KOLKATA: A gang-rape case, reported in Amherst Street in the city in May 2003, that came up for trial 20 years later -- in Jan 2025 - has led to the acquittal of two persons implicated by police. The complainant, who appeared before a Kolkata trial judge on April 24, said that two decades later, she was unable to recollect "what happened" that day and who tortured her. The trial court, in its May 23 order, while acquitting the two accused, also criticised the police for shoddy investigation where none of the witnesses or evidence produced helped unravel the crime. Additional district and sessions Judge Rohan Sinha, in his judgment, said, "Not a single witness examined by the prosecution could throw any light on the incident alleged. Unfortunately, even the victim has turned turtle from her earlier statement." The judge also pointed out three key lapses by the investigating officer (IO) which led to the acquittal. The judge said, "The victim could not identify the wrongdoers, but, curiously, the IO did not try to get the accused persons to face any Test Identification Parade for their identification." The judge also noted that despite the survivor having given an in-camera testimony to a judicial magistrate, her statement under 164 CrPC was not produced in court. Also, the Amherst Street officer-in-charge did not bother to "sign or endorse" the survivor's statement saying that she was gang-raped, which led to the FIR. The trial court also could not rely solely on the survivor's testimony because she filed a formal application not to proceed with the same. The judge, in his order, recorded that the survivor "firmly deposed that due to the passage of time of more than 20 years, she could not recollect exactly what happened to her on the fateful day. She also failed to disclose the identity of the accused, nor could she identify the accused persons". According to the case details, the survivor was engaged as a casual labourer to work in an under-construction house in Rajarhat by one of the accused. According to the FIR, which was also corroborated in the police charge sheet filed in 2004, on May 13, 2003, she was working when she was gang-raped by two persons, including the one who engaged her for work. Police, 20 years ago, got the victim medically examined, recorded her statement before a magistrate, and charge-sheeted four persons. Two among those named in the charge sheet were arrested, while the remaining two are still absconding.
Time of India
25-05-2025
- Time of India
2 accused in '03 gang-rape case acquitted 21 yrs later
Kolkata: A gang-rape case, reported in Amherst Street in May 2003, that came up for trial around 20 years later, in Jan 2025, led to the acquittal of two persons implicated by police. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The complainant, who appeared before the Kolkata trial judge on April 24, said that two decades later, she was unable to recollect "what happened" that day and who tortured her. The trial court, in its May 23 order, while acquitting the two accused, also criticised the police for a shoddy investigation where none of the witnesses or evidence produced helped unravel the crime. Additional District and Sessions Judge Rohan Sinha, in his judgment, said, "Not a single witness examined by the prosecution could throw any light over the incident alleged. No doubt that it is a settled principle that conviction can very well be founded only over uncorroborated testimony of the victim. Unfortunately, even the victim has turned turtle from her earlier statement." The judge also pointed out three key lapses by the investigating officer (IO) which led to the acquittal. The judge said, "The victim could not identify the wrongdoers, but, curiously, the IO did not try to get the accused persons to face any Test Identification Parade for their identification." The judge also noted that despite the fact that the victim gave an in-camera testimony to a judicial magistrate, her 164 CrPC statement was not produced in court. Lastly, the Amherst Street OC did not bother to "sign or endorse" the victim's statement saying that she was gang-raped, which led to the FIR. The trial court also could not rely solely on the victim's testimony because she filed a formal application not to proceed with the same. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The judge, in his order, recorded that the victim "firmly deposed that due to the passage of time of more than 20 years, she could not recollect exactly what happened to her on the fateful day. She also failed to disclose the identity of the accused, nor could she identify the accused persons". According to the case details, the victim was engaged as a casual labourer to work in an under-construction Rajarhat home by one of the accused. According to the FIR, which was also corroborated in the police charge sheet filed in 2004, on May 13, 2003, she was working when she was gang-raped by two persons, including the one who engaged her for work. Before this incident, the victim had asked the accused to clear her week's pending dues. Police, 20 years ago, got the victim medically examined, recorded her statement before a magistrate, and charge-sheeted four persons. Two among those named in the charge sheet were arrested, while the remaining two are still absconding. The judge, in his order, said, "A careful reading of the testimonies of the witnesses examined by this Court firmly opines that the prosecution has miserably failed to direct the needle of suspicion for the commission of the alleged offence against the accused persons, far less to prove their guilt."
