BJP leader and Union minister Anantkumar Hegde’s convoy was hit by a truck on a national highway near Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district in Karnataka on the night of Tuesday, 17 April.
Hegde has, however, alleged that this was a deliberate attempt on his life.
In a series of tweets, the minister said that the truck had initially tried to hit his car directly, but since his vehicle was at top speed, they managed to escape without any causalities.
Support staff in the escort vehicle has, however, suffered serious injuries, including a shoulder fracture, the minister said.
The minister alleged that the truck had been parked on the road horizontally and as soon as his convoy approached, the truck started moving in the wrong direction and tried to ram into his car.
He further tweeted that the truck driver named Nasir was caught by the locals and did not seem to be having any hangover.
Hegde said that the incident doesn’t look like an accident and suspects that a serious attempt was made on his life and claims that the truck driver deliberately targeted him.
“I urge the police to take the case seriously in spilling the truth from this guy named Nasir. There might be a bigger nexus behind this incident and am sure that police would expose all of them,” the minister said.
Police Dismisses Deliberate Attack Allegations, CM Ensures Thorough Investigations
Despite the his allegations, the police in Karnataka has "prima facie" dismissed allegations of a deliberate assassination attempt on Union Minister Anantkumar Hegde late on Tuesday night.
Speaking to The News Minute, Haveri Superintendent of Police, K Parashuram, said, “We are still investigating every angle. But prima facie, it seems like this was an accident. We have registered a case of accident and nothing else as of now.”
The SP, addressing reporters, attributed the accident to a wrong turn taken by the truck driver.
The police car, which was escorting the minister, was hit by an Ashok Leyland 6-wheeler lorry. ASI Prabhu Talawar and driver Umesh sustained minor injuries. The lorry driver, Nassir Ahmed Mafiz, on the night of 17 April was coming from NR Pura. He meant to drive through Ranebennuru, Halageri, Tumminakatti, Honnali and Shimogga. While travelling, he got a call from someone in his family and instead of going through Halageri bypass, he drove through the Halageri overbridge.K Parashuram, Superintendent of Police, Haveri
He added, “Then, he realised he had taken a wrong turn. He travelled 100 metres to the service road. While he was turning the wrong way, the minister's pilot vehicle was hit by the lorry.”
The driver of the lorry is being questioned by police and his phone call records are being scrutinised, he said.
According to reports, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah also dismissed the incident, saying it could be just another accident. He however, assured the minister that a thorough investigation will be carried out.
Karnataka Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy also assured that an investigation will be carried out to ascertain the facts of the case.
“Anantkumar Hegde is a central minister of state. When he makes such claims, we have to take it seriously. I have asked IG Sharat Chandra to go to the spot and give me a report. Whatever the investigation may reveal, but it is our job to probe it and we have done that. Anantkumar Hegde and Pratap Simha do all this business on Twitter and Facebook and all these platforms. But we cannot ignore what a Union Minister of State says, so we are probing the incident,” Home Minister Ramalinga Reddy told TNM.
Meanwhile, BJP MP Pratap Simha tweeted:
Mr Siddhharamaiah (CM of Karnataka) if you have guts, face us politically. If you try to finish Anantkumar Hegde in others means, we will hit the streets and none can save you.
(This article was originally published on The News Minute)
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