An FIR has been lodged against BJP leader Manoj Baitha for the death of nine school children in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, police said on Monday.
“We have registered an FIR against Mr Baitha on Sunday on the basis of a complaint by Moh Ansari of Dharampur village, who lost five grandchildren in the tragedy on Saturday,” Station House Officer of Meenapur police station Sona Prasad Singh said.
Mr Singh said raids were conducted to arrest the BJP leader who hails from Sitamarhi district but he is absconding. Mr Ansari said in his police statement that Mr Baitha was driving the vehicle when the speeding vehicle run over the children on Saturday. Clad in a white cotton kurta-pyjama, he fled after the vehicle hit and killed the school children, he added.
At least nine children were killed and about 20 injured when a speeding Bolero lost control and ploughed through them outside a government school building on the outskirts of the city on Saturday.
The heart-rending incident occurred under Minapur police station area, about 10 km from the district headquarters, when the school got over and the children were returning home
“The incident took place at Ahiyapur-Jhapaha in Minapur police station area of the district where a Bolero ran over the children who were returning to their homes after the school was over,” Vivek Kumar, Superintendent of Police, Muzaffarpur, had told PTI.
He said “all the injured, said to be around 20 in number, have been rushed to to the Shri Krishna Medical College and Hospital for treatment. The condition of some of them was stated to be critical”.
Meanwhile, RJD MLA from Minapur, Munna Yadav, who rushed to the spot after the mishap, alleged that the driver of the vehicle was “definitely inebriated. There has been no control on consumption of alcohol despite the state government’s claims of prohibition”.
(With inputs from agencies)
