Lucknow: A five-year-old boy died after being hit allegedly by a car in the motorcade of Uttar Pradesh minister Om Prakash Rajbhar near Colonelganj in Gonda district, following which Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has sought a report from the state police chief.
Rajbhar maintained he was not travelling with the cavalcade at the time of the incident even as opposition parties attacked the state government over the incident which comes ahead of civic polls in UP.
One of the cars in Cabinet minister Rajbhar’s cavalcade, while passing through the Colonelganj area on Saturday, had allegedly knocked down Shiva Goswami, who died on way to hospital at night, the police said.
Eyewitnesses and family members of the boy alleged that no one in the convoy stopped to help the child. His father Vishwanath alleged that the minister sped away in one of the cars that was decorated with garlands.
Rajbhar, however, claimed that he was 25 km away, in another car, when the incident occurred.
The boy was playing by the side of a road when he was hit reportedly by one of the cars in the cavalcade. His mother and grandmother were near the spot.
Following the incident, angry villagers placed the boy’s body on the road demanding action. Visuals of the boy’s father carrying the body were flashed repeatedly by TV channels.
Stepping in, Adityanath directed the state police chief to submit a report and announced Rs 5 lakh compensation to the next of kin of the deceased. He also directed the state DGP to initiate strict action against those responsible for the incident.
Meanwhile, opposition parties targeted the Adityanath government and Rajbhar over the incident.
