A vehicle in the convoy of, Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister Kavinder Gupta, skidded off the road and fell into a canal on Saturday, killing a photographer of the state’s information department and injuring five others, police said.

The deceased was identified as Suram Singh (50), the police said, adding that the driver and four passengers were among the injured.

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The accident took place near the Greater Kailash area, on the outskirts of Jammu, when Kumar’s convoy was returning from a function, a senior police official said.

The driver escaped with minor injuries and Singh’s body was retrieved from the vehicle, the official added.

Ruling out rash driving, Gupta said the accident took place as the driver lost control of the vehicle.

“I will visit the deceased’s family to personally express my condolences,” added Gupta.

On 30 April, Kavinder Gupta took oath as the new Deputy Chief Minister of the state on Monday as ruling alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) effected a reshuffle of its members in the Mehbooba Mufti cabinet. Gupta was the Speaker of the Jammu-Kashmir assembly prior to this.

Barely hours after he took oath as the Jammu and Kashmir Deputy Chief Minister, Kavinder Gupta had made a controversy by terming the gruesome rape and murder of an eight-year-old girl in Kathua as a “small incident” which should not get so much attention.

The remarks were promptly slammed by opposition parties following which Gupta issued a clarification.