Khordha: A seven-year-old boy was crushed under the wheels of Charana Chakadev chariot during Rath Yatra at Palatana ground under Banapur town in Khordha district Thursday evening.
The deceased has been identified as Sunil Patra, son of Akhaya Patra – a resident of Chianga village in Banapur.
According to sources, the incident took place when the chariot fell in a pothole and failed to balance subsequently. While the crowd gathered there in numbers and jostled to get the chariot out of the pit, Patra somehow slipped and fell into the pothole.
No one noticed and the chariot ran over him within a moment.
He was rescued by the people and was rushed to Banapur hospital and later to Balugaon Community Health Centre. However, doctors could not save him. He succumbed to his injuries while under treatment.
Tension prevailed in the area following the incident and villagers staged a protest at Banapur police station at 6:00pm demanding adequate compensation.
Adequate police force including Sub-Divisional police officer (SDPO) of Balugaon Sunil Mohanty, MLA Prasant Jagadev and Former MLA Raghunath Sahu reached the spot to restore peace. The protest was withdrawn after Red Cross gave Rs 20,000 and MLA Jagdev gave Rs 10,000 to the family of the victim.
Jagdev further assured the demonstrators to get the kin of the victim a compensation of Rs 5 lakh from state government. This apart, the Endowment department also promised a compensation of Rs 4lakh.
PNN