Bihar BJP leader booked for hit-and-run case in which nine school kids were killed; Opposition says government protecting him

PATNA: Even as BJP leader Manoj Baitha was booked for the hit-and-run case in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district, in which nine schoolchildren were killed and ten others were injured, Opposition leader Tejaswi Yadav on Monday accused the government of protecting him and threatened statewide agitation unless he is arrested immediately.

Manoj Baitha, the general secretary of BJP’s Sitamarhi district unit who was allegedly driving the SUV that mowed down the children on Saturday, has been absconding since the accident. DGP PK Thakur said police are trying to arrest him and that a mobile phone recovered from his abandoned SUV is expected to help in tracing him.

“The Nitish Kumar-led government is protecting this BJP leader who caused the death of nine innocent schoolchildren and left ten others badly injured. He was driving in a drunken condition,” said RJD leader Tejaswi Yadav, who visited the bereaved families on Saturday evening. “His arrest has been delayed so that the influence of liquor vanishes in him and his violation of the prohibition law cannot be proved,” he added.

Yadav also led a march of RJD leaders to meet Governor Satya Pal Malik and handed him a memorandum about the “extremely alarming law and order situation” in Bihar. “Unless Baitha is arrested by tomorrow, we will organise statewide agitations,” he said after meeting the Governor.

Deputy chief minister Sushil Modi of BJP denied the charges. “The culprit will not be spared at any cost. It hardly matters that he is a BJP leader. This government is known for the rule of law,” he said. Modi also jeered at RJD for its lenient stance earlier towards its leaders facing criminal charges such as ex-MP Mohammad Shahabuddin and ex-MLA Rajballabh Yadav.

It is yet to be confirmed if Baitha was driving the SUV that ran over the children near their school on National Highway 77 at Ahiyapur-Jhapaha. Some eyewitnesses have told police that he was driving the car. Sources said CCTV footage recovered from a toll booth on the highway showed Baitha in the car, which is registered in his name.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi targeted CM Nitish Kumar over the incident. “A drunken BJP leader killed nine innocent children in prohibition-bound Bihar. Nitishjee, is this the reality of your prohibition regime? Who is your conscience protecting now – the BJP leader or the reality of prohibition?” he tweeted.

‘नशामुक्त बिहार’ में नशे में धुत एक भाजपा नेता ने 9 मासूम बच्चों को मार दिया!

नीतीश जी क्या यही है आपकी शराबबंदी की सच्चाई?

आपकी अंतरात्मा की आवाज आज किसे बचा रही है - आरोपी भाजपा नेता को या बिहार में शराब की सच्चाई को?

— Office of RG (@OfficeOfRG) February 26, 2018