Belagavi, 17 April

Three months after the car accident involving Minister for Women and Child Development Laxmi Hebbalkar, Belagavi police arrested the truck driver responsible for the hit-and- on run on Thursday.

The accused, 65-year-old Madhukar Kondiram Somavansha, was arrested on Wednesday in Indapur taluk of Pune, Maharashtra. Police also recovered the truck that collided with the Minister’s car on 14 January, 2025, along the Pune–Bengaluru National Highway near Ambedgatti village in Kittur taluk.

The Minister and her brother, MLC Channaraj Hattiholi, sustained injuries in the incident while returning from a party meeting in Bengaluru en route to a Makara Sankranti programme. Hattiholi recovered within a week, while Hebbalkar was advised a month’s bed rest.

According to a complaint lodged by the Minister’s driver, the accident occurred when their vehicle was travelling in the middle of the three-lane highway. The truck, initially in the left lane, attempted to overtake from the left but veered into the centre lane, grazing the car and forcing it off the road, where it crashed into a tree. The Minister was seated beside the driver at the time.