Angelina, Protected

Fri., Oct. 13, 2006 3:10 PM PDT by Sarah Hall

Since arriving in India last week, Angelina Jolie has been the indirect cause of a hit-and-run accident and a paparazzi choking.

Obviously, she's the one in need of more protection.

Indian police have announced they will be heightening security measures for the actress after a car in her convoy collided with a motorcycle Wednesday, causing minor injuries to its rider.

Nineteen-year-old Mittal Rawat told police the car sped away after hitting him in an effort to avoid a swarm of photographers.

Contrary to original reports, which claimed Jolie was reading a book as her driver struck Rawat, the actress was not among the passengers in the vehicle, which was carrying crew members from A Mighty Heart, police said.

Though a representative from Kailash Picture Company, which is managing the film's shooting schedule in India, said the collision was minor and had been "blown out of proportion," police have said they are "not taking this incident lightly."

"We have increased the security for Ms. Jolie to see that incidents like this do not happen again.," R.S. Khaire, a police officer in the western city of Pune, told Reuters.

A case has been filed against the driver of the vehicle and the number of officers accompanying Jolie on location will be increased, police said.

Jolie, who is in Pune with Brad Pitt and their three children, plays Mariane Pearl, the widow of slain journalist Daniel Pearl, in the film, which Pitt is producing through his Plan B production company.

The project is being shot in India due to security concerns in Pakistan.

The celeb couple's presence in the ordinarily quiet city has set off a paparazzi furor, leading to a mob scene every time they set foot outside their hotel.

Earlier in the week, one of Jolie's bodyguards grasped a paparazzo by the throat after the shutterbug refused to lower his camera. The incident was captured on tape and broadcast by an Indian television station.

Jolie and Pitt were also forced to cut short a rickshaw ride through the city with their five-year-old son, Maddox, after the media swarm proved to be too much for their security team to handle.

Maybe it's time for India to take a page out of Namibia's book and require permission slips from any journalist wishing to cover the Jolie-Pitt clan.