Indian minister claims bid on life after truck hits his convoy

NEW DELHI, April 18 (Xinhua) -- An Indian minister has claimed that he escaped a bid on his life, following a road accident involving his convoy late Tuesday night.

The accident occurred around 11:30 p.m. local time Tuesday when junior Indian Skill Development and Entrepreneurship Minister Anant Kumar Hegde's escort vehicle was hit by a truck in Haveri district in the southern state of Karnataka.

The minister, however, alleged that the truck driver's main target was the vehicle in which he was travelling.

"A deliberate attempt on my life seems to have been executed just now. A truck on the national highway, near Halageri in Ranebennur taluk of Haveri district, tried to hit my vehicle. Since my vehicle was in top speed, it escaped the hit," he tweeted.

Hegde has urged the police "to take the case seriously in spilling the truth out" from the truck driver who was arrested.

"There might be a bigger nexus behind this incident and am sure police would expose all of them," he said.

A senior police official said Wednesday that a probe is underway. "We are interrogating the driver to ascertain if the accident was actually a bid on the minister's life, given the state is going to assembly polls next month," he said. Enditem