6-Hour Road Blockade After Truck Mows Down 5-Yr-Old In Odisha’s Keonjhar

Keonjhar: Locals staged a blockade for over six hours on Thursday after a speeding truck ran over a five-year-old boy near Hadgarh under Soso police limits in Odisha’s Keonjhar district, killing him on the spot.

The deceased has been identified as Akash Munda from Bhadrak district.

According to sources, the accident took place at around 9 am when Akash was crossing the road while on his way to attend a festival with his parents at Dolapadi village.

Locals detained the driver of the truck, owned by a local sarpanch’s husband, and handed him over to the police. Later, they blocked the road at Hadagada-Chhenapadi Chhak by placing the victim’s body on the road, demanding compensation for the bereaved family.

“The roadblock was lifted around 3pm after the vehicle owner agreed to meet the villagers’ compensation demand,” said IIC of Soro police station Bijay Kumar Bihari.

He further stated that a postmortem has been conducted and the body later handed over to the parents. The driver has been detained for questioning and the truck has also been seized, he added.