M A I N   N E W S

Pranab in Army hospital
Rajeev Sharma
Tribune News Service

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee at Shaktinagar Hospital in Krishnanagar after he was injured in a road accident on Saturday night. — PTI photo

New Delhi, April 8
It will take a couple of weeks before external affairs minister Pranab Mukherjee, who sustained head injuries in a road accident last night near Krishna Nagar in West Bengal, can resume his usual hectic schedule of government and party work.

In view of the accident, the minister's official visit to Saudi Arabia has been cancelled. His two-day visit to Riyadh was scheduled to begin tomorrow. Fresh dates of the visit will be worked out later.

Messages wishing Mukherjee speedy recovery poured in from several world capitals. Pakistan's foreign minister Khurshid Mehmood Kasuri was one of the first to send a get-well-soon message. A bouquet on behalf of Kasuri was also delivered to Mukherjee in the hospital by the Pakistan High Commission here.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh went to the airport to receive the injured minister as he was flown in here from West Bengal and admitted to the Commandant Army Hospital (R R) for treatment by a team of specialist doctors. His condition is stable.

The senior minister, who is heading several Group of Ministers and handling a vast array of government and political responsibilities, will have to be given a couple of weeks at least before he goes back to his normal hectic schedule.

In the UPA government, Mukherjee holds the number two position, a position enjoyed by the seniormost minister in the government after the Prime Minister who also presides over Cabinet meetings in the event of the Prime Minister’s absence.

Mukherjee will be kept under round-the-clock observation for 48 hours during which period he has been advised complete rest. The doctors will be watching out for any complication during the 48 hours after which they will decide whether the minister can be discharged or not. Sources close to the minister, who went to see him in the hospital this morning, said Mukherjee was fully conscious and cheerful, though his head was bandaged.

The minister was given 12 stitches in the head at the primary health centre near the accident spot in West Bengal last night. In a personal message, Mukherjee expressed his gratitude to all those who had sent him good wishes following the accident. “I am well, but doctors have advised me 48 hours rest. I hope to be back to work after that period,” the minister said in his message.

A medical bulletin, read out this afternoon by Maj-Gen O.P. Mathew of the R&R hospital, said Mukherjee sustained injury to the scalp at about 9.45 pm yesterday in a road accident near Krishna Nagar in Nadia district of West Bengal. His wound was sutured at the primary health centre and he was evaluated by a team of specialists from the Army and civil institution. His CT scan of the brain was normal.

“At present, he is quite well and cheerful, and all his vital parameters are normal. There is no cause for any concern,” the medical bulletin said.

Subhrangshu Gupta adds from Kolkata: Congress MP from Behrampore Adhir Chowdhury has alleged that the security arrangements and other facilities provided to to the union minister were not proper. He said after the accident the minister was taken to the Saktigar hospital in a hand-pulled rickshaw by local people.

Working WBPCC president Pradip Bhattacharyya and MLA Somen Mitra, who went to Krishnagar last night from Kolkata and spent the whole night at the Saktigar hospital, also complained about the security arrangements and medical facilities provided to the minister.

The Congress leader in the Assembly, Manash Bhuia, who was also injured in the accident, was admitted to SSKM hospital, where his condition was stated to stable. He suffered injuries in the chest. Mukherjee’s political secretary Prodyut Guha and the car driver were also injured but they were discharged after first-aid.

The home secretary, Prasad Ranjan Roy, however, denied the injured minister and others had been denied due attention. He said after receiving the accident report around 11pm, the DIG and several senior police officials had rushed to the spot.

He denied that the minister was taken to the Saktighar hospital in the rickshaw. He said all available healthcare facilities were provided to the minister.

Roy said the accident occurred due to the burst of the tyre of the truck, carrying electric cables and wires. The truck hit the minister’s car coming from the opposite side on its way to Kolkata. He said the car driver had fled after the accident.

Truck driver held

Kolkata, April 8
The driver of the truck that collided with External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee’s car last night in Nadia district was arrested today.

IGP (Law and Order) Raj Kanojia said here that the driver of the Berhampore-bound truck, who escaped after the accident at Nakashipara in which Mukherjee was injured, was arrested in Nadia district.

He is being interrogated by the officials to ascertain how the accident occurred. According to information available with the police, the truck skidded after one of its tyres got deflated and collided with the car in which Mukherjee and senior state Congress leaders were travelling to Kolkata from Murshidabad. — PTI