July 3, 2015:Â A four-year-old child was killed when politician Hema Malini’s Mercedes hit a Maruti Alto in Rajasthan on Thursday evening. The driver of Hema Malini’s car has been arrested this morning after a FIR was filed.
“We have arrested the driver of Hema Malini’s car, Mahesh Thakur, a resident of Vrindavan in Uttar Pradesh,” a police officer at Dausa, where the accident took place on Thursday evening, said.
Thakur has been arrested on charges of rash driving, causing death by negligence, besides others, the official said.
The Mathura MP was returning to Jaipur after a visit to the Mehendipur Balaji temple in Karauli district when her Mercedes rammed into an Alto at the Lalsot bypass on the highway. The people travelling in the hatchback were residents of Lalsot, the police said.
Harsh Khandelwal, the father of the child who died, filed the FIR against the BJP lawmaker’s driver Mahesh Thakur. He got injuries to the legs and collar bone and multiple fractures. Â Mr Khandelwal said that he was driving the Alto, with four others of his family in it.
His other son, six-year-old, was rushed to Jaipur’s Sawai Man Singh (SMS) hospital and is undergoing treatment in the ICU. The child has fractures in both legs.
“I was taking a turn on the Dausa bypass. There was a car ahead of my car which also passed through and suddenly I don’t know from where this car came in and rammed us… after that I don’t know what happened,” Mr Khandelwal said.
Malini, who was sitting in the back seat has injuries above her eyes, on her back and legs; she suffered a nasal fracture. She was rushed to the Fortis Hospital in Jaipur where doctors conducted a CT scan and then administered stitches on her wounds.
A senior police officer from Dausa stated that the accident took place about 60 km from state capital Jaipur. “The Mercedes was speeding. It drove over the divider.†he added. However, he also said the driver of the Alto may not have been paying attention while entering the section of the highway where the collision took place.
