Kotpad: A student was killed, and two more were critically injured after an old concrete plaque collapsed on them at a residential school campus about 5 km from here in the Koraput district Wednesday. The deceased was identified as Premanand Bhatra, a Class III student.
Two Class I students, Shiba Bhatra and Kiran Bhatra, sustained critical injuries in the mishap. The incident occurred at Gandhinagar Residential School, located along National Highway 63 at Dhamanahandi. A 3-foot-high, dilapidated concrete plaque fell on the students when they were brushing their teeth close to it in the morning, teachers said.
Premanand died before he could be shifted to the Kotpad Community Health Centre (CHC). Shiba was given first aid and later referred to the District Headquarters Hospital in Jeypore. Kiran was treated and taken back to the school, sources said.
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Family members alleged negligence and questioned how a 3-foot-long name plaque could cause a fatality, accusing teachers of providing false information about the incident.
Following the death, the victim’s family members and local residents blocked NH-63 in front of the health centre for about five hours from the afternoon, demanding Rs 50 lakh in compensation.
As a result, hundreds of heavy and passenger vehicles were left stranded on both sides of the highway. Terming the death “mysterious,” family members lodged a complaint at the Kotpad police station. An investigation is underway, police said.
On being informed, District Social Welfare Officer Sunil Tandi and local BDO Manoj Kumar Nayak visited the CHC and took stock of the situation.
Former MLAs Chandrasekhar Majhi, Padmini Dian, former Nabarangpur MP Pradeep Majhi, Zilla Parishad members Geeta Majhi and Tripati Chalan, along with senior BJD workers, also reached the CHC and alleged that the incident occurred due to administrative negligence.
Tehsildar Twinkle Sethi, Kotpad IIC Premananda Sunani and BDO Nayak tried to persuade the agitators to withdraw the road blockade, but they did not relent.
Later, the project administrator of ITDA Tripti Barai, Jeypore Sub-Collector Akavaram Sasya Reddy and Sunabeda SDPO Sumitra Jena arrived at the spot, held discussions with the family members and gave away Rs 50,000 in cash.
The road blockade was finally lifted after officials assured that the remaining Rs1.5 lakh would be paid through the bank account.
