Pune (PTI): Exactly a year ago, when a speeding Porsche crashed into a two-wheeler in Pune, killing two techies in their 20s, the accident upended the worlds of their families.

The case grabbed national headlines after it emerged that the luxe car was allegedly being driven by a juvenile under the influence of alcohol and a series of events that followed to save him.

Twelve months have passed, but for the families of victims Anish Awadhiya and his friend Ashwini Costa, justice seems far away.

On the other side, the juvenile’s father, who is a developer, two doctors and a few others remain behind bars. The boy’s mother is out on interim bail.

In the early hours of May 19, 2024, a Porsche allegedly driven by a 17-year-old in an inebriated condition fatally knocked down software professionals Awadhiya and Costa, who were on a bike, in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area.

Though the boy was detained, he was granted bail by Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) member L N Danavade within hours of the crash. The lenient bail terms, including asking the minor to write a 300-word essay on road safety, triggered a nationwide firestorm.

After police sought a review of the bail order amid the outrage, the JJB sent the minor to an observation home. Subsequently, the Bombay High Court ordered his release.

In a parallel development, Pune police said the boy’s blood samples were allegedly replaced with those of his mother to conceal his intoxication at the time of the crash. Police then arrested his parents, two doctors from Sassoon General Hospital and a few others.

Om Awadhiya, father of Anish Awadhiya, expressed dismay over the delay in justice delivery. He said he had been assured that the case would be fast-tracked.

“A year has passed, but the trial is being stretched. Our son is no longer with us; nothing can compensate for that loss, but justice in this case would send a strong message against drunk driving and those who believe money and power put them above the law,” he said.

He said both families have appealed to the authorities to expedite the trial.

“This entire year has been painful for me, my wife, and our whole family. Not a single day goes by without us remembering him and cherishing his beautiful memories. After Anish’s tragic death, our world has come crashing down,” said Om Awadhiya.

The father, who lives in Madhya Pradesh, said their only wish is to see the culprits punished.

Currently, the minor’s father, Sassoon doctors Ajay Taware and Shrihari Halnor, hospital staffer Atul Ghatkamble, two middlemen, Bashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, Aditya Avinash Sood, Ashish Mittal, and Arun Kumar Singh are in jail in connection with alleged sample swaps.

“The sessions court has rejected the bail pleas of the accused. To ensure that the trial is fast-tracked, we have already filed an application to frame charges. But Dr Taware has moved court seeking to discharge him from the case. That is why the proceedings are pending,” said Special Public Prosecutor Shishir Hiray.

He said their priority will be to tackle the discharge application and go for the framing of charges.

Hiray said while opposing the bail applications of the accused, he made the court understand that it was not a simple accident case.

“In this case, the accused have played and cheated the judicial system by tampering with the key evidence, such as blood reports. Due to the prosecution’s strong opposition, barring the mother of the juvenile, none of the accused have been able to secure bail,” he said.

A senior official from Pune police said that, except for the initial probe on May 19 last year, the entire investigation is being carried out in a professional manner to ensure a watertight case against the accused.

According to police, around 2.30 am on May 19, Awadhiya, Costa, and some of their friends were returning home on their bikes from a hotel when a speeding Porsche without a registration number plate rammed into the two-wheeler in Kalyani Nagar, killing Awadhiya and Costa.

Police said a 17-year-old boy, who was allegedly drunk, was behind the wheel. His two minor friends and the driver of the car were inside the vehicle at the time of the crash.

The juvenile chose to drive the car after partying at two different hotels with his friends and consuming alcohol, they said.

Following the accident, the juvenile was detained. Initially, police were accused of giving him preferential treatment, prompting Pune police chief Amitesh Kumar to suspend two cops from the Yerawada police station.

Citing the subsequent investigation, police said the teen’s father and Dr Taware, then the head of the Forensic Science department at Sassoon Hospital, got the blood samples of the juvenile swapped with those of his mother with the help of Dr Shreehari Halnore and hospital staffer Ghatkamble.

Middlemen Makandar and Gaikwad were accused of facilitating financial transactions for the alleged illegality.

Police said the blood samples of the two other minors, who were in the car, were also reportedly swapped to prevent the detection of alcohol. Police then arrested three people, including the fathers of these two minors.

After the incident, the issue of serving liquor to underage patrons took centre stage as a case was registered against two hotels that had served alcohol to the juvenile and his friends.

 

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London, Aug 5 (PTI): An Indian-origin taxi driver based in Ireland for over 23 years has become the latest to be targeted in an unprovoked attack in the capital Dublin, with local police (Gardai) launching an investigation into the violent assault.

Lakhvir Singh, in his 40s, told local media that he picked up two young men in their 20s on Friday night and dropped them at Poppintree, in the Ballymun suburb of Dublin.

Upon arriving at the destination, the men are said to have opened the vehicle door and struck him twice on the head with a bottle. As the suspects fled, they reportedly shouted: "Go back to your own country".

"In 10 years I've never seen anything like this happen," Singh told ‘Dublin Live’.

"I'm really scared now and I'm off the road at the moment. It will be very hard to go back. My children are really scared," he said.

A Dublin police spokesperson said Singh was taken to the city's Beaumont Hospital with injuries determined as not life-threatening.

"Gardaí are investigating an assault reported to have occurred in Poppintree, Ballymun, Dublin 11 at approximately 11:45 pm on Friday, 1st August 2025. A man, aged in his 40s, was brought to Beaumont Hospital for treatment of non-life-threatening injury. Investigations are ongoing," the spokesperson said.

The incident followed an Indian Embassy advisory, also issued on Friday, expressing safety concerns following recent attacks in and around the capital Dublin and urging Indian citizens to take safety precautions.

"There has been an increase in the instances of physical attacks reported against Indian citizens in Ireland recently,” states the advisory.

“The embassy is in touch with the authorities concerned in Ireland in this regard. At the same time, all Indian citizens in Ireland are advised to take reasonable precautions for their personal security and avoid deserted areas, especially at odd hours," the statement reads, adding emergency embassy contact details as 0899423734 and cons.dublin@mea.gov.in.

It came in the wake of a brutal attack on a 40-year-old Indian man at Parkhill Road in the Tallaght suburb of Dublin on July 19, described as “mindless, racist violence” by locals.

The Gardai had opened an investigation into the case and Indian Ambassador to Ireland Akhilesh Mishra was among those who took to social media to express shock over the attack.

“Regarding the recent incident of physical attack on an Indian national that happened in Tallaght, Dublin, the embassy is in touch with the victim and his family. All the requisite assistance is being offered. The embassy is also in touch with the relevant Irish authorities in this regard,” the embassy said in a social media post days after the incident.

A Stand Against Racism protest was also held by the local community in condemnation of what was described as a "vicious racist attack" and to express solidarity with migrants.

Last week, Dr Santosh Yadav took to LinkedIn to post details of a “brutal, unprovoked racist attack”.

The entrepreneur and AI expert stressed that it was not an isolated incident and called for “concrete measures” from the governments of Ireland and India to ensure Indians feel safe to walk the streets of Dublin.

His post revealed that a group of six teenagers attacked him from behind as he walked to his apartment in Dublin.

“This is not an isolated incident. Racist attacks on Indian men and other minorities are surging across Dublin — on buses, in housing estates, and on public streets. Yet, the government is silent. There is no action being taken against these perpetrators. They run free and are emboldened to attack again,” reads Yadav's post.

Fine Gael party Councillor for Tallaght South, Baby Pereppadan, was among those who expressed concern following last month’s attack.

“People need to understand that many Indian people moving to Ireland are here on work permits, to study and work in the healthcare sector or in IT and so on, providing critical skills,” he said.