Porsche crash case prompts Maharashtra Opposition to liken Pune to ’Udta Punjab’, Devendra Fadnavis rebuffs remark

Opposition leader in the Maharashtra Assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Friday said Pune is becoming like 'Udta Punjab' – a reference to the drug menace in the city. 

Maharashtra Deputy Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis countered the Opposition's statement by saying that Pune is the IT and manufacturing hub of the state. “This is why it's not right to malign its image by likening it to Udta Punjab,” he said.

While speaking in the state assembly on Friday, Wadettiwar said Pune is a city where students come from across the country, but there is no place there where drugs are not available.

"This car, which was without a number plate, was on the road for six months," Wadettiwar said in Marathi while speaking about the Pune Porsche crash incident. He was quoted by NDTV as saying, "How did the police allow it to be on the road for so long?"

During the debate, Vijay Wadettiwar demanded the Pune police commissioner's resignation.

Reacting to his statement, Fadnavis said, "I am not here to give a clean chit to anyone." He told the legislative assembly that Pune police chief Amitesh Kumar had a proactive role in the investigation into the Porsche crash and there was nothing to suggest that action should be taken against him.

"The police have taken a very proactive approach here. There is no need to investigate them. This is a new habit, someone brings a paper and talks about rate cards. Here, the police have undertaken the investigation and the information provided by Waddetiwar will be looked into by us," the deputy chief minister was quoted as saying.

Conceding that there are issues of “use of money to buy justice”, Fadnavis said, "This should not be allowed. We have to see how laws can be strengthened further. The issue is serious but there is no need to defame the Pune Police. They have taken action in the case. Erring police officials have been punished.”

Porsche crash case

Two software professionals died after their bike was hit by a speeding Porsche in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area in the early hours of May 19. According to police, a 17-year-old minor was driving the high-end car in a drunken state at the time of the accident.

Police alleged that the teen’s blood samples were swapped with those of his mother to show that he was not drunk. The minor’s parents and two doctors from state-run Sassoon General Hospital have been arrested over the sample swap.

Fadnavis said the Sassoon doctors changed the blood samples for a bribe of ₹3 lakh. “We learn from loopholes in every case. The new criminal laws, which will be in force from July 1, give more importance to legal, forensic and technical evidence,” the deputy CM said.

The juvenile has since been released from an observation home on the directives of the Bombay High Court.

(With inputs from agencies)