Kendrapada: A home guard personnel was killed after a speeding pickup van ran over him near Balabhadrapur in Odisha’s Kendrapada district around 9 am on Wednesday.
The deceased was identified as Prabir Kumar Mohapatra.
According to sources, a joint check against violations of traffic rules was being conducted by the Regional Transport Office (RTO) and Enforcement Squad on National Highway at Balabhadrapur.
While Mohapatra was trying to intercept a speeding scrap-laden van, the driver did not stop the vehicle and ran over the home guard killing him on the spot.
Other members of the squad chased the van. However, the driver fled after abandoning the vehicle at a nearby village. The van was seized by the squad and brought to the local police station.
Meanwhile, irate locals staged a road blockade by placing the body on road demanding compensation for the bereaved family. They also alleged that if the RTO officials would have rushed Mohapatra to any nearby hospital immediately after the accident, he could have been saved.
On being informed, Derabish police team arrived at the spot and tried to pacify the locals. Efforts are on to trace and nab the erring driver.
