Togadia survives road accident, alleges security lapse

Surat : Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia miraculously escaped unhurt a road accident near Surat on Wednesday and immediately voiced suspicion that it was an attempt to kill him.

A speeding truck hit the car in which Togadia was travelling from the back and dragged it some distance on a highway at Kamrej. Informed sources claimed he survived only because he was in a bullet-proof vehicle.

“Normally when a vehicle meets with an accident, they immediately apply brakes. But here the truck driver, after hitting the car, dragged it for some feet and stopped only when my car hit the divider and got stuck. He did not apply brakes,” Togadia later told the media, hinting it appeared to be an attempt on his life.

Togadia, who has Z+ security, generally travels with a pilot car in front of his vehicle and an escort vehicle behind and besides his vehicle. However, the escort cars were not present when Togadia met with the accident.

“It seems someone in the administrative hierarchy issued incomplete instructions to local administration. There were written instructions for providing only a pilot car and not other escort cars. My question is that who issued such incomplete instructions and why? This has never happened till date,” Togadia said.

He added: “Today’s incident also proves that it is wrong to believe that there is no danger to the lives of people with Z+ security.”

The VHP leader had been alleging a threat to his life for about two months.

Togadia had gone missing from Ahmedabad on the morning of January 15, after receiving an anonymous call informing him that a team of police personnel from Rajasthan was in the city to arrest him. Even then, he had feared he would be killed in an “encounter”.

He was later found from Kotarpur area en route to Ahmedabad airport late in the evening, from where he was taken to a private hospital in a semi-conscious state. Doctors attending on him said he was suffering from hypoglycaemia.

There was no word from the state government or local authorities on the accident.

IANS