Truck driver tries to flee after hitting MP BJP chief's SUV, arrested

Police have arrested the driver of a truck that hit several vehicles on a 148-km stretch in Madhya Pradesh in his bid to flee after ramming into Madhya Pradesh BJP president V D Sharma's SUV in Bhopal, an official said on Saturday.

The incident occurred on Thursday night and the police finally caught the accused after a dramatic chase involving personnel of multiple police stations and spanning several kilometres, during which the accused broke police barricades, damaged several vehicles and injured some cops, he said.

The arrested driver has been identified as Ajay Malviya, said Govind Meena, in-charge of Biora Dehat police station in Rajgarh district.

"The truck being driven by Malviya hit state BJP president V D Sharma's SUV in Lalghati area of Bhopal around 9.30 pm on Thursday. After that, he fled from the spot and headed to Narsinghgarh," he said.

The incident occurred when the driver was returning to Shujalpur in Madhya Pradesh after offloading onions in Kolkata, he said.

"After the Lalghati incident, Sharma's security personnel informed the police control room, who initially tried to stop the vehicle at Gandhi Nagar in Bhopal by putting up barricades. However, the truck driver broke the barricades and fled," Meena added. The police personnel then chased the truck, but he tried to crush two of them at Gandhi Nagar. Staff of Kurawar police station also chased the truck, which stopped at Kachnariya toll plaza. But the driver tried to hit the cops, in which one constable Santosh Verma was injured, he said. According to Meena, the accused then reached Biaora-Dewas road. He was finally caught at Udankhedi toll plaza near Pachor in Rajgarh district after he stopped the truck and tried to flee, the official said. During the chase, the driver hit and damaged eight police vehicles of six police stations in addition to private vehicles, he said, adding that the accused was heavily drunk at that time.

A total of five FIRs have been registered against Malviya at different police stations, Meena said.

Two of the FIRs were filed at Gandhi Nagar and Koh-e-fiza police stations of Bhopal and one at Narsinghgarh police station in Rajgarh district, while two others were registered at Biaora Dehat police station against the driver.