New Delhi - Manoj Baitha, a local leader of India's ruling
Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) accused of running over and killing nine
children with his SUV in the eastern state of Bihar, has surrendered
to police.
Baitha turned himself in to Muzaffarpur police late Tuesday, district
police chief Gourav Pandey said Wednesday.
The politician has been formally arrested, Pandey said, and was taken
to a hospital for treatment of injuries related to the accident.
Nine students were killed and 20 more were injured when the
politician's vehicle rammed into the wall of a school on the
outskirts of the district of Muzaffarpur on Saturday. Some victims
were hit directly by the vehicle, others were caught under the wall
that collapsed.
Police said Baitha was driving the SUV under the influence of liquor,
but the politician dismissed this.
"I surrendered voluntarily," Baitha told reporters at the hospital.
He denied that he was driving the vehicle at the time of the
accident.
State Deputy Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Modi told the police to take
the "sternest possible action," according to broadcaster NDTV.
Sources told NDTV on Wednesday that the BJP leadership asked Baitha
to surrender amid ongoing outrage over the incident. He was suspended
by the BJP for six years following protests in the region.