MP’s daughter held for running over man sleeping on Chennai pavement, gets bail

In one more case of hit-and-run by a member of a prominent family, this time in Chennai, the daughter of a Rajya Sabha MP from Andhra Pradesh allegedly ran her BMW car over a man sleeping on a pavement on Monday evening (June 17).

Quoting sources in the Chennai Police, the news agency PTI has reported that the driver of the car, Madhuri, daughter of Beeda Masthan Rao, ran over a 21-year-old man Surya, a painter, who was sleeping on the pavement in Besant Nagar in Chennai. Surya was rushed to a hospital, but died of his injuries.

Called ambulance

Madhuri was accompanied by another woman in the car. While Madhuri fled from the place after the accident, her friend argued with the people who had gathered at the scene. She told them that they had called an ambulance. She too then left the scene.

The dead man’s relatives and friends went to the nearby police station demanding that justice be done. After reviewing the CCTV footage from the location, the police identified the car as one owned by the Beeda Masthan Group (BMR Group). They tracked down Madhuri and her friend from the telephone number that was used to call the ambulance. The MP’s daughter was arrested and later released on bail at the police station.

Bailable offence

The Adyar Traffic Investigation Wing Police has registered a case under section 304 A of the Indian Penal Code (causing death by negligence), which is a bailable offence, and issued a summons to the car owner.

While the BMR Group is a major player in the seafood industry, Beeda Masthan Rao has been a YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Rajya Sabha MP since 2022. Before that, he served as an MLA.

This accident comes close on the heels of the hit-and-run case in Pune where a speeding Porsche car driven by a drunk teenage boy caused the deaths of two young software professionals.