45 year old Bharatiya Janata Party MLA died in a car accident earlier today. The accident took place in Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh. The MLA was travelling with his two police gunners and a driver when the accident took place. All four have died in the accident.
The BJP MLA was travelling in a Toyota Fortuner wearing license plate UP21 BS 6666. As per the govt records, this car belongs to Shamim Khan and is bought on loan from State Bank of India. Lokendra Singh was on his way to Lucknow, to an Investor’s Meet, where PM Narendra Modi was also going be present.
The Fortuner in which Lokendra Singh was travelling, collided with a truck head-on at high speed. The MLA was seated in the front, while his two gunners were seated on the rear seats. The impact was such that Fortuner’s driver, BJP MLA and the truck driver, all three died on the spot. The accident took place in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh, about 90 kms from Lucknow.
The two gunners, 28 yr old Brijesh Mishra and 30 yr old Deepak Kumar were taken to a nearby hospital by helpers. They too died after a brief period. Soon after the news spread, Superintendent of Police Anand Kulkarni and District Magistrate Sarika Mohan reached the accident spot
The reason of the accident is that the Toyota Fortuner was being driven on the wrong side of the road. The road is a 4-lane National Highway with a proper divider in between. Images and video reveal that the MLA’s car was travelling on the wrong side which resulted in this mishap. Police has registered a case and is conducting an enquiry.
Speaking about the car in question, it is the new generation Toyota Fortuner, which is priced in the range of Rs 35-40 lakhs for the fully loaded variant. It is powered by a 2.8 diesel engine which generates 174 hp and 450 Nm. It has a 5 star safety rating, the best there is in car safety. It comes with 7 airbags. All airbags have inflated in the crash above, even then no passenger survived. No matter how safe a car is, it is more important to drive safely, with speed in check.