In a significant development, the Juvenile Justice Board (JJB) on Wednesday cancelled the bail granted to a minor -- charged with killing two persons with his speeding Porsche early on May 19 -- and has detained him in a juvenile rehabilitation home for 14 days.
The JJB's order came three days after it had granted bail to the minor boy -- son of a prominent Pune realtor -- barely 15 hours after the accident, and asked him to write an essay, serve with traffic police and take medical help to de-addict himself, sparking a huge public and political row.
The state police went in appeal against the JJB order before a Sessions Court, which directed it to go back to the JJB and seek a review of the previous order, which was granted on Wednesday.
Adv. Prashant Patil, representing the 17-year-old boy, said he will now be lodged at a juvenile correctional home for a fortnight and the decision is expected to ensure his safety and security as there have been widespread protests in Pune since the past three days against him and his family.
Proving its point that the minor boy was a drinker, the police presented hotel liquor bills of Rs 48,000 paid in one of the eateries he and his friends had gone partying. The police also said that though the boy is a minor, he has committed a very heinous crime and the police must be granted permission to prosecute him in the case.
The Pune Police also informed the JJB that the investigators have enhanced the charges by adding a new IPC Section 185 to the chargesheet, besides Section 304 pertaining to culpable homicide not amounting to murder.
In a related development, the boy's father, Vishal S. Agarwal was remanded to two days police custody, along with three others arrested, including the owner and managers of two eateries where the youngsters' brigade had partied on Saturday-Sunday night.
The fatal accident, followed by the alleged privileged treatment meted out to the minor boy, and the JJB's bail within 15 hours, enraged Punekars with massive protests erupting, and an 'ink attack' made on his father Vishal Agarwal on Wednesday afternoon.
(Except for the headline, this story, from a syndicated feed, has not been edited by Odishatv.in staff)