Having taken serious cognisance of serious developments in the sensational Porsche hit-and-run case, the Maharashtra government has appointed a three-member committee to look into the alleged “manipulation” of a blood sample of the minor accused in the case by the two senior doctors at the Pune-based Sassoon General Hospital.
Set up hours after the arrest of two senior doctors and an employee of the state-run Sassoon Hospital for “manipulating” the blood sample of the minor accused in the Porsche mishap case, the three- member committee -- headed by Dr Pallavi Saple, Dean of Sir J. J. Hospital in Mumbai – hit the ground running, as it rushed to Pune to investigate the “administrative lapses” leading to the manipulation of the crucial blood sample.
Apart from Dr Saple, the other two members who have been nominated on the committee are Dr. Gajanan Chauhan of Grant Medical College in Mumbai; and Dr. Sudhir Choudhary of Government Medical College & Hospital in Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar (better known as Aurangabad).
Talking to media persons before leaving from for Pune to begin the inquiry, Dr Saple said that that the committee would look into all aspects, involving the alleged manipulation of the blood sample of the minor accused in the Porsche hit-and-run case.
“We have been asked as to what happened at Sassoon Hospital in matters relating to the incident. We have to find out whether all post-mishap matters were dealt with the laid down procedures or not,” Dr Saple said
The appointment of three-member committee came in the wake of the arrest of two doctors – Dr. Ajay Taware, Head of the Forensics Department, Dr. Shrihari Halnor the chief medical officer of the Sassoon Hospital and Atul Ghatkamble, an employee who works under Dr Taware.
The Pune police arrested the two doctors and a hospital staffer on Sunday night after they established that the blood samples tested at the Sassoon Hospital did not match with that of the accused Porsche car crash.
Dr Taware, Dr Halnor and Atul, who have been charged with the alleged “manipulation” of blood samples and destruction of evidence in the case, were on Monday produced before a Pune Court which remanded them in police custody till May 30.
While seeking police custody of the three persons, the police told the court that some financial transactions had taken place to “tamper” with the blood samples and they needed to search the homes of the 17-year-old accused in connection with it.