Youth Killed by Speeding SUV

BHUBANESWAR:  : In a tragic incident, a 27-year-old youth was killed on Rasulgarh overbridge after being hit by a speeding SUV on Friday afternoon.

The youth, Bankanidhi Pradhan, was riding pillion on a motorcycle which was driven by his cousin Surendra Khamari. They were returning from Cuttack with a carton of electrical equipment. The incident took place at 4 pm when Pradhan with his cousin were ascending the flyover. A grey-coloured Scorpio hit the two-wheeler from behind at a speed of more than 100 km per hour.

Khamari escaped narrowly with minor injuries as he was thrown off the vehicle. However, Pradhan who was holding the carton got stuck with the motorcycle and the rear part of the SUV hit his head directly. A PCR van rushed Khamari and Pradhan to Capital Hospital where the doctors declared the latter dead.

Mancheswar IIC Himanshu Swain said an accident case has been registered and police are trying to locate the killer vehicle.

The stretch of National Highway (NH) 16 running through the State Capital has turned into a death trap with at least five road accidents occurring on it every week.

This year, 13 persons have been killed on the NH in the City. In 2015, around 220 road accidents took place in which 95 lives were lost and 276 persons injured. While the Commissionerate of Police and State transport authority claim to have heightened enforcement and traffic safety measures, fatal mishaps continue to occur due to rash and reckless driving.