Gonda (UP) | Two cousins were killed and a woman was injured after being hit by an SUV that was allegedly part of the cavalcade of BJP's Kaiserganj candidate Karan Bhushan Singh here on Wednesday. The car driver has been arrested, police said.
Karan Singh is the son of sitting Kaiserganj MP and former Wrestling Federation of India chief Brij Bhushan Sharan Singh.
Police personnel have been deployed in the area to maintain law and order.
Station House Officer, Kernalganj, Nirbhay Narayan Singh said Rehan Khan (17) and Shehzad Khan (20) were travelling on a motorcycle when they were hit by the SUV near a school. Both of them died on the spot.
The driver of the SUV that hit the duo lost control of the vehicle and also hit Sita Devi (60) who was walking on the roadside, the SHO said.
The driver, Lav Kush Srivastava, has been arrested and his vehicle seized. The bodies were handed over to the family members of the deceased after the completion of formalities, police said.
An FIR has been registered at the local police station under relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Motor Vehicles Act in the matter, police said.
Sita Devi is undergoing treatment at the medical college, they said.
There were four vehicles in the convoy of Karan Bhushan Singh, also the president of the Uttar Pradesh Wrestling Association, who was sitting in the first vehicle, said a police officer on condition of anonymity.
The vehicle that hit the motorcycle was at the end of the convoy. The speed of the vehicles in the convoy was above 100 kmph, said the officer who inspected the accident spot.
"The speed of the vehicle which went out of control after hitting the motorcycle can be estimated from the fact that more than a dozen cemented poles erected in fields along the road to keep out stray animals were badly damaged.
"This vehicle was also fined Rs 2,000 for violating traffic rules on December 21, 2023, and the penalty is yet to be paid. 'Police escort' was written on the rear windscreen of the vehicle," the officer said.
The SUV's airbags deployed during the crash, keeping its passengers safe. The front of the car was badly damaged and one of its tyres was punctured after getting entangled in a barbed wire on the roadside, he said.
Naushad, a relative of Rehan, said the teenager was unwell and was going to Colonelganj with his cousin Shehzad, who had recently returned from Dubai, for treatment.
"When we reached the hospital after the accident, we were told that both of them had died," said Naushad.
He said locals told the family that Rehan and Shehzad's motorcycle was hit by a vehicle which was part of Karan Singh Bhushan's convoy.
Another relative Salman said as soon as they received information about the accident, they rushed to the spot across the Chhatai Purwa railway crossing and saw a Fortuner parked there and blood on the road.
Salman said Rehan was his parents' only child and so was his cousin Shehzad.
