The driver was arrested, charged under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code (Representational)

A 45-year-old man was killed after an SUV, belonging to Maharashtra's Shiv Sena minister Tanaji Sawant, hit his two-wheeler in Solapur district on Monday, police said.

The incident took place around 8.30 am on a state highway intersection near Shelgaon Hole village, some 220 km from Pune, an official from Barshi police station said.

Tanaji Sawant, an MLC and state water conservation minister, was not in the SUV (sports utility vehicle) at the time of the accident, he said, adding that its occupants comprised driver Anuradh Surwase, 28 and one more person.

"The victim, identified as Shyam Hole, was trying to go to the other side of the road on his motorcycle when he was hit by the SUV. He died on the spot," the official said.

"Minister Sawant was not in the car. His driver and another occupant were heading towards a college in Barshi owned by Sawant," he said.

The driver was later arrested and charged under the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, said the official.

After the accident, some angry locals attacked the car and damaged it, he said, adding that heavy police security was deployed on the highway.

Barshi police station's inspector Bhagwant Vitthal Munde told PTI that the driver did not run away from the spot.