Bhadrak/Bant: Tension ran high after a speeding passenger bus ran over a BJP leader and overturned into a roadside water body after crashing against a transformer at Tilo Jaguliapada Square under Bant police limits in Bhadrak district, Sunday.
Ten injured passengers, four of them critical, were rescued after the bus overturned. The critically injured passengers, identified as Ashis Rout, 27, and Mahendra Behera, 61, of Tihidi, Hemalata Parida, 37, of Gadi and Anita Mahonta, 15, of Thakurmunda, have been admitted to the Bhdrak Headquarters Hospital for treatment.
The deceased was identified as Sudhakar Dhal, 59, of Tilo village. He was the former BJP president of Bant block and the incumbent vice-president of the party’s district unit. The mishap sparked protests in the area as locals burnt tyres and staged a road blockade at the mishap site for several hours demanding compensation for the bereaved family. The road blockade caused significant traffic disruptions on the route. The mishap occurred when the bus named ‘Baba Arupananda’ with around 12 passengers on board was on its way to Anandapur in Keonjhar district from Bhadrak within 7am to 7.30am.
The deceased was standing on the roadside, talking with two others in front of his house when the speeding bus veered towards the roadside and ran over him. The bus overturned after hitting a transformer. The injured passengers were rescued after the window panes of the vehicle were broken. The bus driver fled the scene after the mishap. Bhadrak MLA Sanjib Mallik visited the hospital and enquired about the treatment of the injured persons. Local authorities, including Sub-Collector Sourabh Chakraborty, SDPO Trilochan Sethi, Bant additional tehsildar Prasant Puhan, Bant IIC Sriballav Sahu and his Agarpada counterpart Srikant Pati held talks with protesters. Though no immediate resolution was reached, the authorities assured compensation of Rs 20,000 from the Red Cross fund to the affected families. The office bearers of the Bhadrak bus syndicate also joined the discussion.
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The talks were disrupted after a member of the syndicate made some erratic remarks during the discussion. As a result, the authorities rescheduled the talks till 4pm, Monday and assured no bus will ply on the Bhadrak-Anandapur route till the issue is resolved. Bant police registered a case and sent the body for post-mortem to the Bhadrak Headquarters Hospital over a complaint filed by the deceased’s elder brother Manoranjan Dhal. Several political figures, including former block chairman Akshaya Sahu and former minister Prafulla Samal visited the residence of the deceased BJP leader and paid their respects to the departed soul.
