Tejas Navale

Pune: The Kalyaninagar Hit and Run case has caused a countrywide stir, and now Chief Minister Eknath Shinde himself has gotten involved in the case. On Tuesday, the Chief Minister of the state, Eknath Shinde, contacted Pune Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar over the phone and instructed him not to back anyone in this case.

Earlier, Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis directed the Pune Police to take strict action against those responsible. Amid allegations of police inaction, he warned that officers delaying the investigation would face consequences. Fadnavis also ordered a review of the police station's CCTV footage to determine if the accused received any special treatment, with instructions to take action against any involved officials.

On Sunday midnight, the minor accused struck his speeding four-wheeler with a two-wheeler, in which two individuals were killed on the spot. However, after the police arrested the minor accused, the relatives and friends of the deceased individuals alleged that the police were deliberately delaying the action and giving special treatment to the accused.

The Maharashtra Times newspaper also reported that pizza and burgers were provided to the accused in jail after he came from the Sassoon Hospital following his medical test. After this, the accused was also given bail within 15 hours of the state. Following this, all political parties criticised the Pune Police administration and alleged that Pune Police and the government were backing the accused.

After it was revealed that NCP's MLA Sunil Tingre asked police officials to show leniency in the action against the accused, opposition parties criticised the ruling government. But now, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde and Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis have taken strict note of the incident and have ordered the police commissioner to take stringent action in this matter without backing anyone or succumbing to any kind of political pressure.

Meanwhile, on Tuesday, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar held a press conference and defied all the allegations of political pressure on the police administration regarding the case. On the contrary, he said that Home Minister Devendra Fadnavis has given a free hand to the police to investigate freely in this matter.

Amitesh Kumar said that they are approaching a session court against the bail order given to the accused on Sunday. He said that as the case is of a serious nature, they would request the court to consider the accused as a major individual while trying this case.

Police officers have also ramped up investigations, making significant arrests on Tuesday. On Tuesday morning, police detained the accused's father, Vishal Agarwal, from the Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar area. Yesterday, the State Excise Department filed a charge sheet against Sagar Chordia, the owner of Panchasheel Infrastructure, in court. After this, the State Excise Department today arrested hotel Kazi owner Prahlad Bhutda, manager Sachin Katkar, Sandeep Sangle of Hotel Black, and bar counter Jayesh Bonkar for serving liquor to minors.