Balipatna: The death of a middle-aged man of Marthapur following a road mishap Monday evening sparked public outrage Tuesday with hundreds of villagers staging a road blockade near Nua Sahi Square on Uttara-Banmalipur road demanding justice for the deceased.
The agitators blocked the road at around 10am demanding `20 lakh compensation for the next of the kin of Bijay Bhoi of Marthapur, who succumbed to the injuries sustained after being hit by a motorcyclist. Besides, they also demanded arrest of the biker identified as Lipu Pradhan of Aulei village here. Meanwhile, traffic on the road came to a grinding halt for hours.
According to the agitators, Bhoi was walking home after relieving himself at around eight in the evening when Pradhan rammed him from the rear. “Pradhan was on his way to market on his motorcycle (OD-02-AW-3227) and hit Bhoi following which the latter sustained critical head injuries. A few onlookers rushed a profusely bleeding Bhoi to the nearby community health centre,” an agitating villager rued, adding that Bhoi’s condition worsened and he was later rushed to All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in Bhubaneswar where he succumbed to the injuries at around 1am.
Sources said the road blockade, however, was removed after assistant commissioner of police (ACP) Amarendra Panda, Balipatna inspector in-charge (IIC) Akash Rana and tehsildar Prachi Mohapatra intervened.
The officials handed over `10,000 in cash from the Red Cross fund to one of Bhoi’s relatives and promised them of arresting Pradhan, a source said.