Kathmandu, September 8

An official car of a state minister knocked down a motorcycle in New Baneshwor today, leaving two persons injured.

According to police, the jeep (Ba 1 Jha 7163) Minister of State for Information and Communications Tapta Bahadur Bista was travelling in hit the motorcycle (Ba 48 Pa 9250) coming from the opposite direction.

DSP Rabi Paudel, in-charge at Baneshwor-based Metropolitan Police Circle, said Sahadev Shrestha, 19, and his close relative Anju Shrestha, 14, of Bhaktapur were injured in the accident.

“They are undergoing treatment at Everest Hospital. Sahadev has received minor injuries while Anju needed more medical attention due to serious injury to her right leg and back,” he informed.

DSP Paudel said the jeep driver (name undisclosed) was arrested and kept in the police custody for further investigation. On-duty cops had intervened and rescued State Minister Bista after the mob tried to surround the jeep for allegedly trying to flee instead of rushing the injured persons to hospital.

The state minister is in touch with police and had assigned a person to the hospital to make necessary arrangements for the treatment of Sahadev and Anju, said DSP Paudel.

The existing laws treat all citizens equally, but the vehicles carrying VIPs rarely respect traffic rules and are driven recklessly at the cost of others. Traffic snarls caused by VIP movement have become the order of the day in Kathmandu Valley.

Traffic police had recently conducted a series of orientation classes for police personnel deployed for VIP security to make them aware about traffic rules every citizen should comply with.