Maharashtra CM's vehicle meets with minor mishap

Maharashtra Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan's vehicle hit the pilot car, which halted suddenly, after two vehicles ahead of it abruptly applied breaks on the Western Express Highway in suburban Malad last night, police said here today.

Describing the incident as a minor accident, Additional Police Commissioner Brijesh Singh told PTI that "Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan is fine and did not suffer any injury."

The matter has been taken very seriously and Deputy Police Commissioner (DCP) Pravinkumar Patil is conducting a detailed inquiry to establish what went wrong, Singh said.

DCP Patil said that he had submitted an interim report to his seniors in which he stated that it was a clear case of road accident. "It was a minor road accident and nothing else. There was no breach of security and one should not read much into it," he said.

The incident occurred at about 9 pm yesterday at Malad as the Chief Minister's convoy was on its way towards the Mira-Bhayander in neighbouring Thane district.

DCP Patil said that a car suddenly applied breaks after which a Maruti Ertiga vehicle coming from behind rammed into it. "This resulted in a pilot car bumping into the Ertiga car. As the pilot car suddenly stopped, the CM's car hit his navigating vehicle," Patil said.

Assistant Police Inspector (Worli Traffic Police) P Desai, who was in the pilot car, sustained minor injuries.

The front and back sides of both the pilot car and the Ertiga were damaged, the police said, adding that, "The CM car's front side and the Innova car's backside were also damaged."

The Dindoshi police station took note of the accident and a further inquiry is on.

"It was a minor accident. Nobody was arrested," an officer at the police station said.