2 more held for alleged swapping of blood samples; total arrests reach 9

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MUMBAI: The Pune police have arrested two more persons in connection with the alleged swapping of blood samples in the Porsche car crash case, a top official said on Tuesday.

With the arrest of the duo late Monday night, the number of persons held in the Porsche car crash case has gone up to nine, the police said.

“The blood samples of two minors who were with the juvenile accused in the car, were swapped with those of these two persons, who include a father of a minor,” Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said this morning.

The high-end car allegedly driven by the minor under the influence of alcohol knocked down two motorbike-borne IT professionals, one of them a woman, in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar area in the wee hours of May 19, killing them.

The boy’s father is a prominent builder.

The boy’s parents and doctors – Dr Ajay Taware, then HOD of forensic medicine department, Dr Shrihari Halnor and one Atul Ghatkamble, a staffer from Sassoon are already arrested for allegedly swapping the blood samples of the minor with those of his mother.

Two other accused – Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad – acted as middlemen between the father and the doctors to facilitate financial transactions to swap the blood samples. They were also arrested earlier.

The Pune police recently filed a chargesheet of 900 pages in the case against seven accused arrested earlier.