Sena MP suffers head injuries in accident

Shiv Sena MP Bharatkumar Raut suffered head injuries in a car accident at Devalali on the Mumbai-Pune Expressway around 4.45 pm yesterday. The Rajya Sabha member was on his way to the city when one of the front tyres of his Honda City car burst and the vehicle veered into the opposite lane, crashing head-on into a Maruti Zen.u00a0

Raut's associates Sudhir Ambekar and Arvind Harbaj, who were travelling in the car, were also hurt. The occupants of the Maruti Zen -- Rahul Anand (35), Arundhati Anand (6) and Shakuntala Balkrishna (50) -- also suffered injuries.u00a0

According to the police, Arundhati sustained severe injuries. The three who were in the Maruti Zen were admitted to Yash Hospital, while Raut and his aides were rushed to the Lokmanya hospital in Nigadi.u00a0Police Sub-Inspector Dilip Talape and his team rushed to the spot after they came to know about the accident. Lonavala Rural Police Inspector Mohan Jadhav is investigating the case.u00a0

Neurosurgeon Dr Umesh Phalke is attending to Raut.u00a0"Though he has suffered several head injuries, his condition is stable," said.u00a0He said after conducting a CT scan on Raut, the medical team diagnosed him with subdural hematoma, which is a collection of blood on the surface of the brain.u00a0

"Although the Sena leader has internal bleeding in his head, he is not serious. There is no need to worry," said Dr Vaidya. "He will be in the ICU for another 24 hour. On Monday (today) we will go through his second CT scan reports and decide when he will be discharged."u00a0Shiv Sena city chief Nana Wadekar said Raut's family had been informed about the mishap and had rushed to the hospital.