Mumbai, May 30 Vanchit Bahujan Aghadi (VBA) president Prakash Ambedkar on Thursday questioned the links of Maharashtra political parties and ruling ministers with the accused Pune builder whose minor son was involved in the May 19 Porsche car crash that killed two persons.
"Which are the political parties and ruling ministers who have partnership with the builder (Vishal Agarwal) and who are the ministers whose money has been invested with him and the leaders having business interests with the realtor. The police should probe all this thoroughly," Ambedkar told the mediapersons.
He also echoed the Maha Vikas Aghadi opposition leader's suspicions and pointedly sought to know "which minister had called up the Pune Police" regarding the case that day, ostensibly to save the 17-year-old boy, hailing from a wealthy and well-connected builder's family.
Referring to the increasing number of road accidents caused by inebriated drivers, the VBA chief called for taking the most stringent punitive action against all the bars and pubs that flout laws by admitting and serving alcohol to underaged teenagers, as in the Porsche case.
"When the government issues them permits or licenses, a clause must be inserted that if the bars-pubs give entry to juveniles and serve liquor to those below 18, the owners-managers could face three years' jail, a fine of Rs 10 lakh, and the permission of their business establishment would be cancelled," demanded Ambedkar.
He pointed out that since the laws against juvenile offenders in such cases are mild, they get away with light punishment, so this aspect must be reviewed, and any minors involved in such serious crimes must be heavily penalised.
Acknowledging that the media had treated the matter very seriously and highlighted it, Ambedkar appealed to the courts to also consider it equally gravely and take strict action against all the accused in the case.
The VBA chief commented for the first time after the May 19 accident by the Porsche speeding at 160 kmph killed two Madhya Pradesh techies, Ashwini Koshtha and Aneesh Awadhiya.
The tragedy snowballed into a major public outrage and political controversy, with murky details emerging almost daily as the police's multi-pronged investigations progressed for the past 11 days.
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