New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and Union Minister for Rural Development Gopinath Munde died on Tuesday morning after a road accident in Delhi.
Mr Munde, 64, was on his way to the Indira Gandhi International Airport to fly to his constituency, Beed in Maharashtra, to address a celebratory rally, when his Maruti Suzuki SX4 was hit by a Tata Indica at the Prithviraj road-Tughlaq road roundabout in the heart of the capital.
Mr Munde was taken to the AIIMS Trauma Centre at 6.30 am by his personal assistant and driver.
“The minister has died of multiple internal injuries. No external wound was found on his body. When he was brought to Trauma Centre, his pulse and heart beat were not working,” AIIMS spokesperson Dr Amit Gupta said after a team of doctors conducted a post-mortem on his body.
Mr Munde, due to the impact, suffered a rupture in his liver and lost one or two litres of blood, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan said. He also suffered cervical fractures and oxygen to the brain and lungs may have been cut off, Dr Vardhan added.
Dr Vardhan also said that Mr Munde’s liver had tear at 2-3 places and there was one-and-half litres of blood in his abdomen because of the injury.
A senior police official said the driver of the Tata Indica, an employee of a transport company, collided with Mr Munde’s car, which was travelling towards Safdarjung road from Prithviraj road.
The Indica was coming towards Tughlaq road, a little over a kilometre from Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence, and hit Mr Munde’s car towards the passenger side where the senior BJP leader was sitting.
Mr Munde’s secretary S Nair said that the Union Minister received a huge shock after the accident and apparently suffered a massive heart attack.
Mr Munde had some minor aberrations on his nose, the police said, and added “after the accident, Mr Munde sought water and asked his driver to take him to the hospital.”
The driver of the Indica was detained from the spot and booked under Indian Penal Code’s sections 304A and 279 for death due to negligence and rash driving. He was later granted bail by a Delhi court.
