Pune Porsche crash: Old video or not, victims’ families are still left with the ‘arrogance of money’

A video allegedly showing Vishal Agarwal, the father of the minor accused in the 2024 Pune Porsche crash case, dancing and celebrating with family members went viral on social media on Wednesday.

In the video, you can see Agarwal adorned in a garland of currency notes dancing with his wife, Shivani, and son at what appears to be a restaurant, with live music playing in the background. Users on social media platforms alleged that it was shot after the Supreme Court granted him bail in March this year. Agarwal is accused of conspiring to swap his son’s blood samples in a bid to shield him from legal consequences following a fatal drunk-driving accident that claimed two young lives in May 2024.

Family pushes back

Hours after the video went viral, Agarwal’s family issued a press note, clarifying that the video had nothing to do with his recent bail. 

The video, they claimed, was shot in Goa in September 2023, where he was celebrating his 25th wedding anniversary. This video, they claimed, was shot well before the first FIR in the case was registered with the Yerwada Police Station on May 19, 2024.

The family also warned that those circulating the video were making “a desperate attempt to prejudice our right of free and fair trial and subvert the course of justice,” and called on all media channels to “cease and desist from circulating the video.”

NDTV, which had published a story about the viral video, deleted its online piece after the clarification. Other outlets added corrections or context to their coverage.

Regardless of the video’s origin, the sight of the Agarwals celebrating anything at all ripped open a wound for the victims’ families.

‘They have nothing but the arrogance of money

Suresh Koshta, father of Ashwini Koshta, one of the two victims killed in the crash, was blunt in his anguish. “Right from the start, we have been mocked in this case,” he told Newslaundry. “That boy drank alcohol, rammed his car into my daughter, and simply got away with it. He was being served pizza inside the police station, and the local MLA rushed there to protect the accused.”

Koshta pointed out that, two years on, the courts have not framed charges, and the trial has not begun. “The accused's father received bail from the Supreme Court. They have nothing but the arrogance of money.”

Om Awadhiya, father of Anish Awadhiya, the other victim, said: “They have been manipulating this case from the very beginning, from influencing police officials and getting political interference from MLAs to changing blood samples.”

Awadhiya recalled that Chief Minister Eknath Shinde had once promised a fast-track trial – a promise that now appears forgotten.

“These people are wealthy and powerful, and it seems they will eventually get away with everything,” he said. “I feel helpless.”

Two years, no trial

In the early hours of May 19, 2024, a 17-year-old, who was allegedly drunk after a night of bar-hopping, drove a Porsche Taycan at 150 kmph through Kalyani Nagar and mowed down two young IT professionals, Aneesh Awadhiya and Ashwini Koshta, killing them on the spot. 

From the very beginning, the case was marred by allegations of preferential treatment of the alleged perpetrator. The Juvenile Justice Board granted the minor bail with conditions that included writing a 300-word essay on road safety. A man in a safari suit walked pizza boxes into the police station for the boy, who sat eating in the ACP’s chair. An NCP MLA arrived at Yerwada police station at 3 am. The police filed the FIR under the more lenient Section 304A (death by negligence) rather than 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). And when blood sample tampering allegations surfaced, they pointed to a family seemingly determined to spend whatever it took to make the case go away.

Two years later, the families of Ashwini and Anish still wait for a trial to begin. 

Newslaundry could not independently verify the Agarwal family’s claims about the viral video.

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