Nagpur hit-and-run: Cops now say CCTV footage of bar missing

NAGPUR: The Nagpur hit-and-run case took a curious turn when the city police admitted that the CCTV footage of the bar visited by Maharashtra BJP chief Chandrashekhar Bawankule’s son Sanket and his friends, before his Audi crashed into several vehicles, is missing.
The car was allegedly being driven by Sanket’s friend Arjun Hawre when it hit several vehicles in Ramdaspeth and other areas of Nagpur in the early hours of Monday. Occupants of another car (a Volkswagen Polo) that was hit chased down the Audi at Mankapur T-Point, apprehended Hawre, one Ronit Chittwamwar, and a son of a Congress leader, and handed them over to the police. Hawre was arrested on Monday night and later released on bail.
“The CCTV footage of the time when they were at La Horee Deluxe bar (before the crash) is missing. We seized the bar’s DVR on Wednesday and sent it for forensic analysis,” said senior police inspector of Sitabuldi police station, Chandrashekhar Chakate. La Horee manager had on Tuesday refused to hand over the CCTV footage and the electronic equipment to a probe team, he said. The bar management relented after being warned of legal action. “However, we realised there was no footage since Sunday night. Further probe is underway,” Chakate added.
The police had earlier said that although Sanket was present in the car, he was not at the wheel at the time of the crash. The blood samples of Hawre (24) and his friend Chintamwar (27) were sent for medical examination that confirmed that they were under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident.
The Regional Forensic Science Laboratory (RFSL) report confirmed the presence of alcohol in the blood samples collected over seven hours after the accident. Hawre, who was driving Sanket’s Audi Q8, had 28mg of alcohol per 100ml of his blood sample, while Chintamwar had 25mg/100ml, according to the police who received the FSL report on Thursday.
Sanket, who was also in the car, has not undergone a blood alcohol test. After the Sitabuldi police station received the forensic report, the officers were unable to make a decision regarding Sanket’s culpability until late Thursday. Sources confirmed that the forensic report has left the police team scrambling to find the appropriate section under the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita or the Motor Vehicle Act to charge the son of the prominent political leader. “We are consulting our legal team before adding an accused in the case,” said a senior police official.
Meanwhile, the hit-and-run case gained significant attention due to Sanket’s involvement, especially at a time when state assembly elections are due in a couple of months. The opposition lapped up the hit-and-run issue to target BJP, and severely criticised Nagpur police’s delay in investigating the case, apart from alleging that the police were trying to protect the state BJP chief’s son.
Chandrashekhar Bawankule, however, has rejected these allegations. Speaking to media in Akola on Friday, he said, “I am not putting any pressure on police for my son. I never called the police, I only asked for information once. Even when Union home minister Amit Shah visited Maharashtra recently, I did not raise the case with him.”