Union Rural Development Minister Gopinath Munde died of “multiple internal injuries” leading to cardiac arrest following a car accident on Tuesday morning, said the preliminary post-mortem report prepared by a panel of doctors at the AIIMS.
“His liver was ruptured, which caused internal bleeding. Due to the sudden shock and impact, he then suffered cardiac arrest. None of the external wounds were fatal enough to cause death,” AIIMS sources said.
Munde’s post-mortem was conducted by a medical board at AIIMS after which his body was taken to BJP headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road.
“The three-member panel of doctors constituted to conduct the post-mortem of Gopinath Munde concluded the union minister suffered multiple internal injuries that caused cardiac arrest, leading to his death,” said Amit Gupta, Public Relations Officer of AIIMS.
Munde, 64, an important figure in Maharashtra politics, was going to the airport here when his Maruti Suzuki SX4 car was hit by a Tata Indica at Aurobindo Chowk around 6.20 am.
Gupta said Munde was brought to the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre of AIIMS at 6:30 am.
“On his arrival at the Apex Trauma Centre, there was no spontaneous breathing, no blood pressure, no pulse. There was no cardiac activity. So, immediately cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) was started and it continued for the next 50 minutes. However, he didn’t respond to the treatment,” he said.
He was declared dead at 7:20 am.
Gupta said, “The detailed report will come out in the evening, which will be directly handed over to the investigating officer of Delhi Police.”
At around 12:40 pm, an open army truck which had Union ministers Nitin Gadkari and Harsh Vardha and Munde’s family left the hospital followed by an ambulance carrying Munde’s body.
Brother-in-law of late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan, Munde is survived by his wife and three daughters, one of whom is an MLA from Parli in Maharashtra’s Beed district.
