Victim’s family devastated after Pune hit-and-run case accused gets bail:Mother says, ‘Hope for justice is fading’; Supreme Court grants bail to 3 accused in blood sample tampering

“Now only this photograph of him feels like a precious heirloom. Whenever I get time, I pick it up. When the photo is in my hands, it feels the same as when I used to hold him in my arms as a child.” These are the words of Savita Avadhiya, the mother of Anish Avadhiya, a software engineer from Umaria who lost his life in the 2024 Pune hit-and-run case. Wiping her tears, Savita says that in their region, there is a tradition that when a person dies, none of their belongings are kept at home; everything is immersed along with the ashes. The same was done for Anish. Her pain resurfaced after the Supreme Court on Monday granted bail to three accused involved in allegedly tampering with blood samples in the Pune hit-and-run case. Since then, the families of both victims in Jabalpur and Umaria have been deeply shaken. The accident that shook Pune The incident dates back to the night of 18 May 2024 in Pune’s Kalyani Nagar. A drunk minor son of a businessman, driving a Porsche car, rammed into a motorcycle. The crash killed 24-year-old software engineer Anish Avadhiya and his friend Ashwini Koshta on the spot. Later, allegations emerged that the minor’s father and others colluded with hospital staff to alter blood test reports to erase evidence of alcohol consumption. Money was allegedly paid to hospital staff for this. Two businessmen were arrested in connection with the blood sample manipulation. The High Court had earlier rejected their bail, stating that releasing influential and wealthy accused could lead to witness tampering and obstruction of justice. However, the accused later approached the Supreme Court, which granted them bail. Grief-stricken home in Umaria After the bail order, a Dainik Bhaskar team visited Birsinghpur Pali in Umaria district, where Anish’s ancestral two-storey house is located. His grandfather, parents, and younger brother live there. Anish’s father runs a printing press, his grandfather is a lawyer, and his younger brother is pursuing engineering. Even today, the atmosphere in the house is filled with grief. When the doorbell rang, Savita Avadhiya came out with tears in her eyes, clutching a large piece of plywood to her chest. It was Anish’s framed photograph, adorned with a tilak. She repeatedly touched his face and hair in the photo. “He wasn’t like other boys” Savita says, “When I used to hold him as a child, I would caress his cheeks and stroke his hair. Holding this photo feels the same. Before the accident, Anish was preparing to go to Dubai. He truly wasn’t like other boys.” She recalls that Anish used to call her three to four times a day. “Even that day, he had called. Then came the news that he was no more. For me, everything ended that day. Even now, when the phone rings, for a moment I feel it might be Anish calling. But that’s just imagination. He’s gone forever.” Marriage proposals had started coming Savita fondly remembers calling her son “Lucky.” “After his birth, everything in our family started going well, so we named him Lucky. When he got his job after studying in Pune, he was so happy—he told me first.” Marriage proposals had already started coming in. “We thought once he settled in Dubai, we’d get him married. If that had happened, I would have been a grandmother by now,” she says, breaking down. “I thought I’d keep his children with me and raise them just like I raised him. But destiny had something else planned. Now, instead of his children, I keep wandering around holding his photograph.” “We’ve been waiting for justice for 20 months” Anish’s father, Om Avadhiya, says the accused have tried every possible way to suppress the case. “They are powerful and wealthy people, with political backing. If it weren’t for the police and the courts, this would have been dismissed as a simple accident long ago,” he says. “When the High Court rejected their bail, they went to the Supreme Court, which granted bail on Monday. We have been waiting for justice for our son for 20 months.” He adds, “The blood sample tampering is the turning point of the case. It shows the accused’s money power and influence. When we heard about the bail, our hearts sank. But we still trust the judiciary.” Porsche was allegedly speeding at 200 kmph According to eyewitnesses, the minor accused was returning home with friends after partying to celebrate passing Class 12. At around 2:15 am, the Porsche hit the motorcycle at extremely high speed—estimated at 200 kilometres per hour. Witnesses said Ashwini was thrown several feet into the air, while Anish crashed into another parked car. Police reached the spot within 15 minutes. Locals detained the youths, who were reportedly drunk. The Porsche had no number plate, and its airbags deployed after the crash, preventing the accused from fleeing immediately. One of the boys, however, managed to escape amid the chaos. Bail and the controversial essay order Forty-two days after the accident, the Juvenile Justice Board granted bail to the minor accused, directing him to write a 300-word essay on road safety, along with six other conditions. Following public outrage and a police request, the board later revised its order and sent the accused to a juvenile observation home on 22 May 2024. However, on 25 June, the Bombay High Court granted him bail.