Boy, 8, killed by Indian minister’s convoy

NEW DELHI: An eight-year-old boy was killed on Saturday when the convoy of a minister i n northern India allegedly ran him over, police said.

The incident happened in the district of Gonda involving a car that was allegedly part of the speeding convoy of Om Prakash Rajbhar, a minister in the Uttar Pradesh state government, said local police official Hridesh Kumar.

Residents blocked roads and held protests, saying the minister’s convoy did not stop to attend to the boy, NDTV news channel reported.

Hridesh said a police complaint of death by negligence and reckless driving had been lodged and investigations were ongoing.

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has asked a senior police officer to submit a report on the incident, and ordered compensation of 500,000 rupees (RM33,000) for the boy’s family.

Om Prakash 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,” he was quoted as saying by IBN-News18 channel.

Hit-and-run cases are not uncommon in India. According to government data, 55,942 cases were reported in 2016. – dpa