Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee, injured in a car crash, was flown back to the capital on Sunday for further medical treatment but doctors and officials said his injuries were not serious.
UPDATED 7:50 PM
In view of Mukherjee's condition after the accident, his two-day visit to Saudi Arabia beginning tomorrow has been cancelled, official sources said.
During his visit, the minister was expected to meet Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz and hold talks on enhancing bilateral ties.
Recently Minister of State for External Affairs E Ahamed had paid a visit to the country and delivered a message by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to the King.
KOLKATA: External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee, injured in a car crash, was flown back to the capital on Sunday for further medical treatment but doctors and officials said his injuries were not serious.
He is out of danger and fine, but since he sustained a head injury requiring multiple stitches, doctors said it would take several days to heal, Mrityunjoy Kumar Singh, a Ministry for External Affairs official, said.
Mukherjee, 71, the number two in Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet, was injured when his car crashed head-on with a truck in West Bengal state late on Saturday as he returned to its capital, Kolkata, from a neighbouring district.
With a bandage wrapped around his head, Mukherjee raised an arm to wave at hundreds of people who had gathered in front of a Kolkata hospital and spoke to doctors before being taken by ambulance to a nearby military airfield.
He was expected to remain in hospital under observation after arriving in New Delhi aboard a special Indian Air Force plane.
He is conscious and his blood pressure was normal when he left for New Delhi, Parimal Tripathi, a Kolkata neurosurgeon who treated Mukherjee, said.
The veteran politician, a senior member of India's ruling Congress party, was among four people injured in the crash.
Truck driver involved in accident with Pranab's car arrested
KOLKATA: The driver of the truck that collided with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's car on Saturday night in Nadia district was arrested on Sunday.
IGP (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said here that the driver of the Berhampore-bound truck, who escaped after the accident at Nakashipara in which Mukherjee was injured, was arrested in Nadia district.
He is being interrogated by the officials to ascertain how the accident occurred.
According to information available with police, the truck skidded after one of its tyres got deflated and collided with the car in which Mukherjee and senior state Congress leaders were travelling to Kolkata from Murshidabad.
Truck driver arrested
The driver of the truck that collided with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee's car on Saturday night in Nadia district was arrested on Sunday.
IGP (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said here that the driver of the Berhampore-bound truck, who escaped after the accident at Nakashipara in which Mukherjee was injured, was arrested in Nadia district.
He is being interrogated by the officials to ascertain how the accident occurred.
According to information available with police, the truck skidded after one of its tyres got deflated and collided with the car in which Mukherjee and senior state Congress leaders were travelling to Kolkata from Murshidabad. - PTI
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