ROURKELA: Two days after two transgenders were run over by a truck on the National Highway (NH) 143, Lahunipada police in Bonai sub-division of Sundargarh district have launched a manhunt to search the accused driver, on the run.
Lahunipada police was treating it as an accident case till a delegation of Sundargarh Transgender and Kinner Association on Tuesday met the Rourkela SP Mitrabhanu Mohapatra alleging it to be a murder case. After meeting the SP the association president Joya Tripathy said they apprised the SP that it was a murder. After hearing them, the SP called the IIC GB Nayak and instructed him to take appropriate action as per the written complaint filed by the association.
Meanwhile, Lahunipada police said efforts have been intensified to nab the accused driver who after the incident fled to Bihar and still absconding. A case was earlier registered under IPC section 304 A.
Bonai SDPO Swaraj Debata had earlier told this paper that the deceased transgenders, Rath Kisan (23) and Raja Patra (18), were riding a two-wheeler on Sunday when the truck accidentally hit them on NH-143 near Rajamunda bypass.