Bihar hit and run case: Accused SUV owner surrenders

A suspended BJP leader on the run since Saturday after being accused of crushing nine schoolchildren to death with his SUV while drunk has surrendered in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur, police said today.

Manoj Baitha had become a major source of embarrassment for the BJP, which rules Bihar in alliance with Chief Minister Nitish Kumar’s Janata Dal United (JDU) as the opposition launched an aggressive political attack over the incident.

Baitha, who also sustained injuries in the Saturday’s accident, was sent to Patna Medical College Hospital (PMCH) for treatment in police custody. Soon after the accident he went into hiding, causing a major embarrassment to the Nitish Kumar-led NDA government in the state.

Top opposition leaders, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi, took a dig at the state government for failing to arrest Baitha, a district BJP general secretary. They alleged that the government was shielding the accused as he belonged to the BJP, a constituent of the JD (U)-led ruling coalition.