Nagpur hit-and-run: Missing CCTV fuels suspicions of cover-up to shield BJP leader’s son

NAGPUR: The missing CCTV footage at the bar and restaurant in Nagpur's upscale Dharampeth, where BJP state president Chandrashekhar Bawankule's son Sanket dined with friends on Sunday night before his luxury car was involved in a hit-and-run, has raised doubts whether evidence was deliberately destroyed to shield him. Maintaining CCTV footage is mandatory, as per Nagpur police rules.

The CCTV recording device seized by city police had no footage of Sanket and his friends at the bar, and senior officers failed to clarify why the device was devoid of data. Sanket and his friends, Arjun Haore and Ronit Chintamwar, left past midnight and raced towards Ramdaspeth, where their AudiQ8 crashed into other vehicles.

Haore, who drove in a drunken state, was booked and taken into custody, and was out on bail on Tuesday.

"The CCTV recording device was seized from the Dharampeth bar and restaurant to douse public outrage and opposition fury. It was an eyewash," said a political activist on condition of anonymity. The opposition had voiced the possibility of the bar management concealing evidence against Sanket.

Sena (UBT) functionary Sushma Andhare, who laid siege to the Sitabuldi police station last week, had expressed similar concerns and had alleged that the police machinery, the complainant and witnesses were under tremendous political pressure."The bar and restaurant owner would furnish excuses, like a technical snag in the billing machine. Hence, there would be no proof of what they ate or drank," she said.

Sitabuldi police, which did not add stricter legal provisions even after the forensic laboratory confirmed alcohol in the blood samples of Haore and Chintamwar, also soft-pedalled the allegations of kidnapping and assault on Sanket's friends, saying the victims did not press charges.

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