Union Minister Gopinath Munde died due to shock and hemorrhage following injuries to his neck and liver, as per the preliminary autopsy report submitted to Delhi Police by AIIMS doctors. The Union Minister suffered internal injuries in abdomen and neck vertebra between C1 and C2 (atlanto-axial joint).
The wound was associated with laceration of vertebral artery with other neck vessels and muscles and haematoma measuring about 1,000 cc, the report mentions. The report says that in Munde’s case, it is shock and haemorrhage consequent upon blunt ante-mortem injuries to the neck and liver. Investigators have collected Munde’s hair sample from the Maruti Suzuki SX4 car in which he was travelling when the accident took place as forensic evidence.
Explaining the technical terms, Union Health Minister Harsh Vardhan had on Tuesday said, “The major thing that cost him very heavily was a fracture of the cervical spines C1 and C2. When you have fracture at C1 and C2, the blood supply to the brain gets cut off because the vertebral artery gets damaged immediately.” The atlanto-axial joint is the highest joint in the spinal column and it lies just at the base of the skull.
“Peritoneal (or lining of the abdominal) cavity contained about 500 ml of fluid and clotted blood. The liver had lacerations of size 5x1 cm over right lobe at lower lateral aspect, contused lacerated wound of size 5x3 cm present over left lobe involving upper and posterior aspect,” the report said.
Vardhan had also said that Munde suffered cervical fractures and oxygen to the brain and lungs may have been cut off following the injuries. His liver had tears at 2-3 places and there was one-and-half litres of blood in his abdomen because of the injury, he said. In terms of external injuries, there were aberrations over the nose and below the right eye on Munde’s body.
Meanwhile investigating agencies revealed the circumstantial evidence clearly indicates that Munde’s car had almost crossed the signal at the Prithiviraj road and Aurobindo Marg crossing when the Indica car hit on the rear side where the Minister was seated. The impact was such that from the point of the hit the Indica car skid for 31 feet towards Tughlaq road. The damage caused to the Indica car is also an indication that the car was being driven at a high speed. The screws of the bonnet were also found pierced in the body of the Minister’s car. The Delhi Police is now waiting for the FSl and the crime team report for further development in the case.