Former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda and his family members had a close shave today when the rear tyre of their bullet proof car burst and the vehicle veered off to a road-side field in West Singhbhum district, police said. Koda, his MLA wife Geeta and his 8-year-old daughter were going to watch a football match when the incident occurred near Karanjo in Chakradharpur block, Superintendent of Police Anish Gupta said. Koda, who was the chief guest at the football match, and others were safe and took another vehicle to reach the venue, Gupta said. Koda, however, said that this is the second such incident in a month and the government did not pay any heed. One of his car tyres was deflated earlier in a jungle area of Tebo Ghati in the district, Koda told PTI. "Following the first incident, I had reported it to the department concerned. The tyre that burst today was a replaced one and old," Koda alleged. Stating that the vehicle he had been given for use by the state government was 16/17 years old, he demanded a new car. About today incident, the former chief minister said, after the tyre burst, the vehicle turned and rolled down about 50 meter into the road-side field. The villagers and his guards took him, his wife Geeta and daughter Mithi out, he said adding that the local police have also reached the spot soon. "We have escaped narrowly," Koda said. Geeta represents Jagannathpur Assembly constituency in West Singhbhum as an Independent MLA.
