Motorcade of India minister accused of hit-and-run

new delhI: An eight-year-old boy was killed when the convoy of a minister in northern India allegedly ran him over, police said.

The boy was run over late Saturday in Gonda district of Uttar Pradesh by a car that was allegedly part of the speeding convoy of Om Prakash Rajbhar, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh state government, local police official Hridesh Kumar said.

Local people blocked roads and held protests yesterday saying the minister’s convoy of cars did not stop to attend to the boy after the incident, NDTV news channel reported.

Kumar said a police complaint of death by negligence and rash driving had been lodged against unknown persons and investigations were ongoing.

The Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked a senior police officer to submit a report on the incident. He has also ordered compensation for the boy’s family.

Rajbhar heads the Suheldev Bharatiya Samaj Party, which is an ally of Uttar Pradesh’s ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

“I was 25km away when I heard of the unfortunate accident. The police is investigating ... I will definitely visit the bereaved family,” Rajbhar was quoted as saying.

Hit-and-run cases are not uncommon in India. According to government data, 55,942 cases were reported in 2016, which is about 11.6% of the total number of road accidents in the country. — dpa