Porsche crash: Transfer Pune top cop immediately, retired IAS officer Bhatia urges MHRC
Pune (PTI): A retired bureaucrat has written to the Maharashtra Human Rights Commission seeking transfer of Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar in connection with the May 19 Porsche accident that claimed two lives.
In his letter, Arun Bhatia sought to highlight the “vulgar, primitive and frightening exhibition of police corruption and dirt at the top level administration engaged in destroying evidence to save the driver who killed two people”.
"I invoke your intervention in this case because it has jolted us, increased our insecurity and shown us the terrifying face of our governance and democracy. Corrupt officials and harassed citizens are now a part of every-day life," he said in his letter to the MHRC chairman.
"Since we have ignored this, the corruption is now pervasive, unsparing and institutionalized. It is not just one official who is evil; the entire officialdom is so. When this union of officials happens and departments combine they become impregnable. The isolated citizen has no chance against this adversary," said Bhatia.
In this case, police officials and senior doctors (including) the chief medical officer of the largest government hospital (Sassoon) in Pune have colluded to save a criminal, claimed the retired IAS officer.
"The blood sample for testing alcohol consumption was delayed by the police for more than six hours; the police fed him pizza in the police station before the blood test, then the sample was destroyed by the doctors and replaced; the recording of statements of witnesses and car occupants was delayed and so on," the letter says.
The basic and standard norms of investigation were discarded and time was made available to the culprits to concoct a defence, he said.
The police commissioner, an IPS officer, is reported to have called the blood testing story a "procedural lapse", Bhatia said in the letter, adding that the former, as per media reports, had claimed there was no political pressure to save the doctors but "two politicians had turned up at the police station".
"I request the H R (human rights) Commission to take special note of the fact that unless senior officials are made accountable for the misdeeds of their subordinates the government departments will not improve. That subordinates collect bribe money for higher officials is common knowledge," he stated in the letter.
For the sake of impartial investigation, the police commissioner must be transferred out of Pune immediately and his conduct should be investigated as he represents the police force in the city, Bhatia urged.
"The appointment of the doctor as Chief Medical Officer on the basis of a politician's recommendation should be investigated and the Health Secretary punished," he added.
Two IT professionals were killed in the early hours of May 19 in Kalyani Nagar in Pune after a Porsche allegedly being driven by a drunk minor rammed into their two wheeler.
While the 17-year-old minor allegedly involved in the accident has been sent to an observation home, his father, realtor Vishal Agarwal and grandfather Surendra Agarwal have been arrested for allegedly kidnapping the family's driver and putting pressure on him to take the blame.
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Karnataka Lokayukta to register case, probe Bowring wall collapse
Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Lokayukta Justice B S Patil on Thursday took serious note of the compound wall collapse at Bowring and Lady Curzon Hospital in the city that killed seven people, and announced registration of a case on its own while warning of action against officials found responsible.
The Lokayukta, who visited the site and conducted an inspection, expressed strong displeasure over the incident and questioned the inaction of authorities, even as police and emergency teams had earlier rushed to the spot to rescue victims trapped under the debris following heavy rain, strong winds and a hailstorm on Wednesday evening.
“I will now register a suo motu case. This is not just about this one incident — such incidents must not occur anywhere in the state or the city in the future,” Justice Patil told reporters.
Seven people, including a six-year-old girl, were killed and seven others injured when the compound wall collapsed as rain-battered victims had taken shelter near it, according to police. The victims included people from Kerala who were in the city on a study tour.
Calling for systemic accountability, the Lokayukta said, “Dilapidated buildings and weakened compound walls, especially in areas with public access, must first be identified. They must either be repaired, demolished, or rebuilt.”
He added that responsibility would be fixed on officials of the BBMP and the concerned departments.
Justice Patil said that hearings would be conducted and preventive action initiated, while also probing those responsible for it, how the incident could have been prevented, and why it was not prevented.
A Scene of Crime Officers (SOCO) team and a Forensic Science Laboratory (FSL) team also inspected the site, while police cordoned off Kovil Street to facilitate the probe.
Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar said the government had initiated measures following the rain-related incidents and stressed preparedness.
“Since last night we have initiated measures regarding the rains. When it rains heavily, we must be prepared, and we are working towards that,” he told reporters here.
On the wall collapse, Shivakumar said, “I will not directly blame any officials. It was an old wall, and trees had grown alongside it. Due to that pressure, it collapsed.”
The Deputy CM said instructions had been issued to identify such vulnerable structures and clear areas around them, including relocating street vendors.
Karnataka Medical Education Minister Sharan Prakash Patil said a technical assessment had been ordered.
“This is a very serious matter. Innocent people have been affected. We are issuing directions to the engineers to find out why this compound wall collapsed and to assess its structural strength,” he told reporters after inspecting the spot.
The Minister noted that the wall was ‘very old’ and required thorough examination to prevent recurrence.
Speaking to reporters, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge asked the Karnataka government to take precautions to ensure that incidents like the collapse of the Bengaluru government hospital compound wall, which caused loss of life, should not repeat.
Meanwhile, addressing a press conference, Shivajinagar MLA Rizwan Arshad said the collapse raised questions about construction and maintenance practices.
“If a wall collapses within 25 years of its construction, it needs to be examined -- whether there was any technical issue, or if anything was altered inside, weakening it. All this can only come out through a technical investigation,” he said.
The Congress MLA also called for wider structural audits across the city, stating that all such structures, whether private or government, must be audited.
He urged citizens to support victims, saying it was a collective responsibility in times of crisis.
