At least three persons were killed and two were seriously injured when Madhepura district magistrate Vijay Prakash Meena’s official vehicle mowed them down in the Madhubani district of Bihar on Tuesday.

The mishap occurred near Purwari Tola under Phulparas police station on National Highway (NH)-57 around 8am and left behind a trail of crushed bodies and blood in its wake. The special utility vehicle (SUV) that was involved finally dashed against the metal railing on the side of the road and came to a stop.

According to eyewitnesses, the SUV was coming from the side of Darbhanga at high speed when the incident occurred and the district magistrate and a couple of other people present in it escaped from the place instead of helping the people who were hit.

They added that the vehicle first hit a couple of workers who were painting the divider of the highway for the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and then swerved to the side, crushing a couple and their child. The district magistrate is said to have fled on a motorcycle that arrived at the spot soon after the mishap.

The deceased have been identified as Ranjeet Shah, 34, his wife Gudiya Kumari, 28, and their daughter Aarti Kumari, 7. The two injured NHAI workers have been identified as Ashok Kumar Singh and Rajesh Kumar Singh. Both hail from Rajasthan.

Madhepura DM Meena did not respond to calls and messages by this newspaper.

The incident raises questions whether Meena had left the district with the permission of his superiors.

On the other hand, Madhepura district public relations officer Kundan Kumar Singh said that Meena was not present in the vehicle when the mishap occurred.

“The district magistrate’s vehicle was facing some technical issues and was taken for repair. I am not sure whether the incident occurred when it was being taken for repair or was returning after it. The district magistrate was not present in it at the time of the accident. He was present at the district headquarters,” Singh said.

Meanwhile, angry villagers of the area assembled at the site of the mishap, blocked the highway, and demanded justice for the deceased. The police also rushed to the spot after getting information about the incident and the protest.

“An FIR will be registered with regard to the accident. The kin of the deceased are preparing to register it. As far as the officer is concerned, he would not have been driving the vehicle. So what could be his role in it? His official driver must have been driving it,” Madhubani superintendent of police (SP) Sushil Kumar told The Telegraph.

He said that the police persuaded the people to remove the road blockade as the administration is trying to expedite compensation for the deceased. The bodies have been sent for post-mortem.

Data pertaining to the vehicle show that the third-party insurance of Madhepura district magistrate’s SUV had lapsed on December 23, 2019, and its pollution certificate was valid till September 24, 2021.