Nitish Kumar protecting children-killer: Tejashwi Yadav

The speeding SUV, which claimed the lives of nine schoolchildren in Bihar’s Muzaffarpur district on Saturday, allegedly belongs to a ruling party leader, who has been named as the sole accused in the FIR lodged on Sunday.

“According to the registration papers of the vehicle, it belongs to one Manoj Baitha, who is a resident of Sitamarhi district,” Muzaffarpur SSP Vivek Kumar said.

Sources said the accused Baitha, who is said to be a member of the BJP’s Dalit wing, was allegedly driving the Bolero himself. A CCTV footage of the vehicle crossing a toll plaza on way from Sitamarhi to Muzaffarpur showed the Bolero flaunting a BJP flag and nameplate above its front number plate and the driver sporting a white kurta.

While the saffron party leaders in Bihar have denied any association with the car owner, Leader of the Opposition Tejashwi Yadav shared a series of photographs of Baitha, with senior BJP leaders including DyCM Sushil Kumar Modi, Union minister Radha Mohan Singh, Nand Kishore Yadav and Mangal Pandey (state ministers) and Nityanand Rai (state BJP chief) on social media on Sunday.

Yadav also shared a photograph of CM Nitish Kumar and Baitha and alleged that the accused had protection of the CM and deputy CM, who were putting pressure on the police not to arrest him. “More than 30 hours have passed but the accused is still on the run. Are they are waiting for him to come out of his inebriated state?” Yadav said.

Dismissing reports of “protecting” the accused, Deputy CM Sushil Modi said he has talked to Muzaffarpur SSP to take the strictest possible action against Baitha.

“There should be no leniency with the one who has killed so many innocent children,” he said.