Bhubaneswar: Around 45 days after the fatal accident, police arrested the owner of the Thar vehicle, which was involved in the death of a mother-daughter duo in Patrapada area of Odisha capital on Rakhi Purnima last month.
A senior police official said that the accused, identified as Somnath Behera, was arrested from Puri.
Another accused, Sandeep Naskar, was also arrested for sheltering Behera. With this, the total number of arrests in the case has risen to six.
The incident, which took place on the night of Rakhi Purnima on August 9, had sparked widespread outrage in Bhubaneswar and elsewhere due to reckless street racing between a Thar and a Scorpio.
Investigation conducted by the police showed that the tragic incident was caused by a reckless street race carried out while recording reels for social media.
The two SUVs were being driven at dangerous speeds to shoot videos for social media reels. The craze for reels and racing led to this unfortunate loss of innocent lives, Zone-3 ACP Tapas Chandra Pradhan said.
Following the arrest of Behera, the family members of the victims sought steps to ensure capital punishment for the accused.
The Thar, reportedly racing alongside a Scorpio, hit three family members – 8-year-old Reshma Raul, her mother Rebati Raul, and the child’s brother.
While Reshma died on the spot, her mother and brother were critically injured and rushed to AIIMS Bhubaneswar. Rebati succumbed to injuries days later.
The accident triggered protests and roadblocks in the Patrapada and Phuleshwari areas and a statewide outcry.
Notably, police had earlier detained Ankit Sahu, the Scorpio driver, and his associate Krushnachandra Pradhan in connection with the case.
Following a manhunt, the Commissionerate Police arrested Rohan Ranjan Raut, the Scorpio owner and son of a liquor trader from Patia, and his accomplice Soham Raj Tripathy, a private bank manager from Delhi.
The accused had fled first to Manali before hiding in Delhi. Both vehicles involved in the accident were seized, and the driving licenses of the accused were suspended.
Expressing grief over the tragedy, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi had announced an ex-gratia of Rs eight lakh from the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund for the bereaved family, with Rs 4 lakh each for the deceased.
