PANJIM: High drama unfolded as the Crime Branch on Thursday arrested Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) State president Adv Amit Palekar on the charge of destruction of evidence in horrific killer Merc accident at Banastarim on August 6. He has been accused of producing a ‘dummy driver’ before the Mardol Police Station immediately after the accident to save Sawardekar couple.
Later in the evening, Adv Palekar was released on conditional bail by the Additional District and Sessions Court, Panjim, sitting at Ponda. The Court granted him interim bail on Rs 50,000 bond and a surety of like amount. The hearing on the bail application would continue on Friday afternoon.
Reacting to his arrest, Adv Palekar said, “This is being done to tarnish my image. I was pressurised two days back to either join BJP or face the consequences. This is absolutely dirty politics. I am being targeted. I have nothing to do with this case.”
Earlier in the morning, Adv Palekar was brought to the Crime Branch office at Ribandar for quizzing. The Crime Branch has accused him for allegedly trying to mislead the investigation in the horrific Banastarim accident case by presenting a ‘dummy driver’ on the fateful day. Three persons were killed and three others were seriously injured in the accident occurred allegedly due to drunken, rash and negligent driving by Shripad alias Paresh Sawardekar.
After his release, Adv Palekar said that DySP Suraj Halarnkar and PI Narayan Chimulkar came to his residence and told him to come along with them as they had instructions from the top to arrest him. He alleged that the police had violated Supreme Court guidelines on arrests and acted as stooge of the government.
Stating that the police are trying to implicate him in the case, Adv Palekar said, “I have no connection with the case except the fact that I am a Rotarian and was present for the party along with 40 others and later I was at home with my daughter right in time for her to go to bed (on August 6).”
Adv Palekar said that on the way, the police picked up one person, claimed to be a ‘dummy driver’ (Raju Lamani), who told the police that he does not know Adv Palekar. He (Lamani) was called by police five times to create a false accident theory and implicate a political rival, he said.
If this can happen to a practising lawyer then what can a common man expect? He asked.
The AAP slammed the Crime Branch for arresting Adv Palekar and accused the BJP government of waging political vendetta against them.
Benaulim MLA Capt Venzy Viegas criticised the Crime Branch for arresting Adv Palekar in connection with the Banastarim accident incident. He pointed out the contrasting situation where the primary accused related to the incident are still at large while Adv Palekar was apprehended. This incident exposes the hollow nature of the charges brought against him and points towards a possible misuse of power by the BJP government.
Viegas stated that the BJP government is actively pursuing a political agenda against the AAP. He highlighted the contradictory situation where the Crime Branch appears to shield the main suspects from apprehension while they had arrested Adv Palekar, who is not linked to the incident. This strategic move by the BJP seems aimed at diverting the public’s focus away from the core issues.
Role of Mardol Police needs to be probed in Banastarim accident
Adv Palekar’s arrest reasserts that Mardol Police had a clear idea that there was an attempt to create a ‘dummy’ driver to save the driver of the killer Merc from being arrested
PANJIM: The arrest of Adv Amit Palekar has reasserted the fact that the Mardol Police had a clear idea that there was an attempt to create a ‘dummy’ driver to save the driver of the killer Mercedes from being arrested on the fateful evening on August 6.
The question is why did the police remained silent on this, till the granting of bail to driver Shripad alias Paresh Sawardekar and anticipatory bail to Mercedes owner Meghana Sawardekar.
Adv Palekar was arrested for allegedly attempting to destroy evidence by getting in a ‘dummy driver’ and this may end up snowballing into a political controversy in the State.
The arrest uncovers the role of the Mardol Police in hushing up the investigation. It has exposed the fact that the Mardol Police and Ponda Deputy Superintendent of Police (DySP) were already in the know but chose to look the other away.
Adv Raviraj Chodankar said, “The Mardol Police needs to be definitely investigated. We have insisted right from the beginning that there was an attempt to hush up the case. Since August 7 morning, there were several high-end cars parked outside the Mardol Police Station which also needs to be investigated. All the calls of the owners of the high-end cars need to be probed as well.”
Banastarim local Gauresh Naik, who was a part of the group that pressured the police to arrest the original driver, while speaking to O Heraldo on the fateful night, said that there was an attempt to change the driver. The same was confirmed after Adv Palekar was spotted crossing the accident site, which clearly indicated that there was an attempt to change the driver at the police station.
“By allowing the Mercedes occupants to leave the spot instead of police interrogating them gives enough scope that there was an attempt to conceal facts and hush up the case,” he said.
O Heraldo’s ground reporting at the accident site revealed the facts, one of which was the changing of the driver of the killer Merc. The arrest has now unfolded the sordid investigation and has called for an impartial investigation into the case to ensure justice is provided to the victims.
It’s only when O Heraldo questioned the probe, that the agencies got cracking
PANJIM: While the families of the victims and people raised questions regarding the lopsided investigations into the killer Merc case,
O Heraldo has been consistently raising queries that never met the eye.
On that fateful day (August 6), O Heraldo asked who was driving the SUV. Speaking to the locals and a visit to the Mardol Police Station had revealed that there was an alleged attempt to change the driver in a bid to save the main accused who was under the influence of alcohol when the horrific accident occurred at Banastarim.
This was done to mislead the investigation away from truth which was highlighted through O Heraldo and Herald TV’s ground reporting.
On August 11, O Heraldo had asked the investigating officer whether crucial evidence such as the airbags were combed to strengthen the case. This question arose on the basis of the directives of the Supreme Court (SC) committee on forensic investigations, for mass fatal road accidents.
The Supreme Court Committee on Road Safety had issued directions to all States stating that forensic investigation for mass fatal road accidents is a must, while in the Banastarim fatal accident case, O Heraldo echoed the doubts of people and eyewitnesses whether there was any forensic probe in the accident and the police avoided questions on whether fingerprints and DNA samples were collected from the airbags.
Through the investigation, O Heraldo realised that there was no forensic intervention to secure the car and preserve the evidence, which would be critical.
O Heraldo procured a video clip, which showed a policeman opening the ill-fated Merc’s door and searching the car with bare hands. Despite the fact that the forensic team of the Maharashtra Police had sanitized the car, following the accident which snuffed out the life of former chairman of Tata Sons Cyrus Mistry.
Consequently, on August 19, the case was transferred to the Crime Branch which later toed the line of investigation that O Heraldo highlighted.
The CB collected the forensic data and now has arrested Adv Amit Palekar, who, according to the police, holds the key to the investigation.
