The body of the Union minister was taken to Mumbai and his last rites will be held in his native village of Parali-Vaijnath in Maharashtra on Wednesday.
Munde, 64, was on his way to the airport for a victory rally in Maharashtra, when his Maruti SX4 was hit by a Tata Indica.
Police told HT the driver of the Indica car voluntarily came to a police station. The Indica was registered with Hotel Imperial and the driver was identified as Gurvinder Singh, police said. A Delhi court later granted bail to Singh.
The accident took place at around 6.20am at the Prithviraj Road-Tughlak Road roundabout in the heart of the national capital and Munde was rushed to the trauma centre of the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) where he was declared dead. Doctors said all efforts to resuscitate him failed and he died of cardiac arrest due to severe internal injuries.
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According to the police, Munde's car crossed the traffic signal on Prithviraj Road and was entering Safdarjung Road when the Indica hit it at a 90-degree angle. The point of impact was the Sx4's rear-left — where Munde sat as per VIP protocol. Additional commissioner of police SBS Tyagi said a PCR call was made at 6.45am. The call was made by Singh, who was subjected to a breathalyzer test for alcohol but came out clean.
"Preliminary investigation confirms Singh was speeding and at fault. Almost two-thirds of the minister's car had crossed the intersection when the collision occurred and sent it skidding for 31 feet," Tyagi said.
But eyewitnesses and police sources speaking off-the-record said it was Munde's car that jumped a red light and took the Indica by surprise. They claimed it was Singh who applied the brakes and caused the skid marks in an attempt to avoid the collision. They said Singh did not try to flee but got down and even gave an injured Munde some water.
A preliminary post-mortem report said Munde may have died of multiple internal injuries. Doctors at the AIIMS Trauma Centre said Munde had sustained significant internal injuries that 'probably' led to his death.
"He had significant injuries to various internal organs that eventually triggered a heart attack. Heart attack is always the last straw and in his case was a result of severe injuries he suffered from inside in the accident," said Dr Amit Gupta, spokesperson, AIIMS.
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"He had two main injuries - cervical spine fracture at the level of C1, C2 that cut the blood supply to his brain, and liver rupture," Union health minister Harsh Vardhan, who spoke to the team that performed the post-mortem, said.
"The spine fracture led to the respiratory and cardiac systems failure, and there was also excessive blood loss due to damage to the liver that had got accumulated inside the abdomen," the minister added.
AIIMS authorities handed over the preliminary post-mortem report to the investigating officer in the evening on Tuesday.
Read: Munde died of multiple internal injuries: Post-mortem report
Munde was brought to the emergency department of the trauma centre at 6.30am by his personal assistant and driver, said the spokesperson Dr Gupta. He was sitting in the backseat of his car that was hit by another car at around 6.20am.
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"Munde was brought to us in an extremely critical state and we did everything possible to revive him," Dr Gupta added. "Munde was hypertensive and a sugar patient. He was already taking medicines," he said.
Read: Pall of gloom in Munde's home town
Munde's secretary S Nair said the minister received a huge shock after the accident and apparently suffered a massive heart attack.
He is survived by his wife and three daughters - Pankaja, Pritam and Yashashri. Munde was the brother-in-law of the late BJP leader Pramod Mahajan.
He also said they are investigating whether it was the minister's vehicle which was at fault or the driver of the Indica. Television pictures of the other driver's car at a police station showed frontal damage and dents and scrapes down its left side.
Munde becomes at least the third senior politician to die in a car crash in recent times.
The Congress party's Rajesh Pilot, a former transport minister, was killed in 2000, and BJP's Sahib Singh Verma, a former labour minister, in 2007.
The country's roads are among the most dangerous in the world and New Delhi ranks near the top of cities that account for the most fatalities.
More than 2,30,000 people were killed on Indian roads in 2010, or a rate of almost 19 deaths per 1,00,000 people.
As many as 15 people died in road accidents every hour in India in 2012 with 53 more injured, the National Crime Records Bureau says.
Read: Munde had firm grasp over rural schemes: rural ministry officials
Mourning Munde
Prime Minister Modi offered his condolences to Munde's family and hailed him as a "true leader".
"Extremely saddened & shocked by the demise of my friend & colleague Gopinath Munde ji. His demise is a major loss for the Nation & the Govt," Modi tweeted.
"Gopinath Munde ji was a true mass leader. Hailing from backward sections of society, he rose to great heights & tirelessly served people."
Modi had entrusted to Munde the crucial task of spearheading his government's battle on poverty in the countryside.
A flurry of tributes from colleagues, allies and political opponents poured in for Munde and his bereaved family.
President Pranab Mukherjee also condoled Munde's death.
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