Oz court issues arrest warrant against Indian student

Natasha Chaku

Melbourne, Aug 20 (PTI) An Australian court on Thursday
issued an arrest warrant against an Indian student, who is
believed to have fled to India after killing a pedestrian in a
car accident, violating his bail terms.

The warrant was issued after Puneet Puneet, 19, failed
to report to police since June 12 after being involved in a
car accident last year.

The County Court heard that Puneet who was a learner
driver had not reported to police as part of his bail
conditions and the judge issued an arrest warrant.

Dean Hofstee, a 19-year-old from Queensland, was killed
when Puneet lost control on the road in October last year. He
had confessed that he hit and killed a Queensland man outside
his Melbourne hotel.

The Victorian police have also arrested and charged a
20-year man for allegedly giving his passport to the Indian
student and helping him flee the country.

Police executed a search warrant in Reservoir suburb
this morning and arrested the man who has been charged with
the commonwealth offence under the foreign passports and law
enforcements act for giving a travel document to another
reckless in the knowledge of how it will be used, media
reports said here.

Puneet's lawyer Angpal Singh told the County Court that
he had not seen his client since April or May. Puneet was
granted bail on condition that he report to police five days a
week and was due to face a plea hearing on Thursday.

Meanwhile, the victim's father Peter, who came for the
hearing, said it was extremely disappointing.

"He's in India, I think he's in India," Hofstee said
adding, "I would certainly hope the Australian and Indian
authorities co-operate to bring him back.

"We obviously indicated we were coming down (for the
plea hearing), then they (prosecutors) came back to us to say
that he had not been reporting in and they didn't know where
he was. Subsequent investigations have found that he's flown
out of the country," Hofstee said.

Police said at a previous court hearing Puneet, a
Victorian Institute of Culinary Arts and Technology cookery
student, recorded a 0.165 blood-alcohol reading after the
crash.

He was estimated to be travelling at almost 150 kmh when
he lost control in the 60 kmh zone. PTI NC
SDE
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