BHUBANESWAR: Rabindra Prasad Gouda had been a morning walker for last the 14 years. On September 12, the 53-year-old driver with a central government organisation was on his way to Indira Gandhi Park when an autorickshaw hit him from behind. It was early hours, about 5 am.
The accident took place near an Ama Bus stop along the Rajpath, a few hundred yards from Lok Bhavan and the chief minister’s residence. The autorickshaw fled while Gouda’s fellow morning walkers called an ambulance and rushed him to the Capital Hospital where the doctors declared him dead. Nobody remembered to note the autorickshaw’s registration number.
Gouda lived in his official quarters near Power House Square. It was routine on his part to take the Bidyut Marg and then the Rajpath before heading out to Indira Gandhi Park. September 12 was no different.
More than a month has elapsed after the fatal hit-and-run and the Commissionerate Police is still clueless. The accused, mentioned as “an autorickshaw driver” in the FIR, continues to be nameless and the killer vehicle still unknown and untraceable.
On the face of it, the mishap appears as one of many that occurs on the roads of Bhubaneswar which have now acquired some serious notoriety for the alarmingly reckless driving, overspeeding, poor compliance to traffic rules and absolutely non-existent enforcement.
The death occurred on one of the most secured zones of the state capital yet the Commissionerate Police has not been able to bring the culprit to book.
For record’s sake, the Rajpath is a VVIP zone of Bhubaneswar for a reason. The 1.5-km-stretch between Lok Bhavan and AG Square has Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi’s residence located on one side. It is heavily guarded with sliding metal barricades in place at two ends. On the other side stand official residences of the two deputy chief ministers – KV Singh Deo and Pravati Parida, besides a host of cabinet ministers. There is a strong presence of security personnel who watch the area 24X7.
The stretch also has about 11 CCTV cameras along with three automatic number plate recognition (ANPR) cameras on the gantries on each side of the road, between Lok Bhavan and AG Square. Yet police have found no trace of the killer autorickshaw so far. The CCTV footages have failed to capture the fleeing autorickshaw, says Bhubaneswar Police.
“Many autorickshaws passed through the stretch in the early hours of September 12 which is why it is difficult to identify the vehicle,” said inspector-in-charge of Capital police station Radhakanta Sahoo. There are a total of 950 CCTV and 230 ANPR cameras installed in the city to keep a close vigil over the city.
The Rajpath does not have too many exits but the police seem to have failed to utilise technology and CCTV eyes of nearby areas to trace the autorickshaw. The conventional intelligence gathering has also failed to trace of the autorickshaw driver yet.
“How difficult is it to crack a sensitive accident in the most guarded area of the state capital? Using help of autorickshaw associations and a thorough investigation could have yielded result. It seems some lives are less important than others,” said a police officer who had previously served in the city.
Meanwhile, the Gouda family continues to be in a state of shock and battling an unexpected economic crisis. The 53-year-old is survived by his wife Sabita Rani, 42, a son and a daughter aged 14 and 18 respectively. A native of Ganjam’s Chhatrapur, Gouda was earlier posted in Berhampur and Sambalpur. He was working in Bhubaneswar for the last 15 years.
His son studies in Class-IX in Kendriya Vidyalaya, while his daughter is in Plus II. As he was the sole breadwinner, his family is facing a severe financial and emotional challenge.
After Gouda passed away, Sabita took a loan of Rs 30,000 from the relatives to run the family and pay the educational fees of their son and daughter.
Nephew Ram Prasad Gouda, who lodged the FIR with Capital police station, wonders how such a road mishap near a high security areahas remained unsolved after so many weeks. “My uncle has four brothers but it is not possible on their part to look after his family. His wife and children are now left to fend for themselves,” said Ram.
“In many instances, repeat offenders are involved in serious incidents like hit-and-run cases. The authorities concerned must initiate stringent action like cancelling the driving licence and registration of vehicles involved in such accidents so that it acts as a deterrent,” said road safety expert Subhrat Kumar Nanda.
If a driver involved in hit-and-run escapes, establishing who was behind the wheel at the time of the crash is difficult, often leading to low conviction rates. There is hardly any enforcement on the ground and issuing only e-challans against the violators will not curb serious traffic offences.
Violators numbers pile up
Bhubaneswar’s roads continue to reflect a significantly high disregard for traffic regulations with commuters frequently ignoring norms, signals, parking and safety rules.
Signal jumping, riding without helmets, wrong-side driving, use of mobile phone while driving, drunk driving and illegal parking continue unabated in the state capital as Commissionerate Police watch.
On an average, about 800 to 1,000 violations are detected everyday in the capital which includes riding without helmets, wrong side driving and driving while using mobile phone, police sources claim.However, the scale of the violations is much bigger than what is being detected.
Data presented in the Odisha Assembly showed Bhubaneswar recording the highest number of traffic violations in the state between 2024 and mid-2026, with its two RTOs generating nearly 14,000 e-challans.
However, compliance remains low as most offenders treat fines casually, not as a deterrent. That’s primarily because there is hardly any enforcement in place. Drunk driving has been a menace in the city but police appear busy with VIP and event duties than going after violators at regular intervals.
A maximum of two to three drives in a month to check drunk driving has left a little fear on the minds of the people who frequently drive under intoxication.
Over the past years, road accidents and fatalities in Bhubaneswar have risen steadily and the city has emerged as one of the most dangerous urban spaces in the state.
According to the available data, in the three-and-a-half years leading up to mid-2026, the state capital recorded more than 4,750 road accidents, claiming about 2,278 lives. Till the end of July 2026, more than 737 accidents had already been reported in the city leaving nearly 188 dead.
In 2023, a total of 1,236 road accidents were reported, 1,291 in 2024, 1,486 in 2025 and 408 up to March 2026. About 357 persons were killed in 2023, 350 in 2024, 383 in 2025 and 104 up to March this year.
About 90 road accidents were recorded in April 2026, 85 in May, 68 in June and 86 in July as against 78, 91, 66 and 48 the corresponding period last year. About 19 persons were killed in April this year, 21 in May, 19 in June and 25 in July as compared to 21 in April, 16 in May, 7 in June and 11 in July during the same period last year.
What is more alarming is these fatalities are not concentrated along National Highway-16,more and more have occurred on the city roads.
Despite repeated claims of heightened enforcement, awareness campaigns, zero fatality fortnight drives and even a multi-crore MoU with IIT Madras, the accident count has not come down.
Experts point out that many vehicles involved in fatal crashes had long histories of traffic violations, sometimes dozens of previous offences yet continued to ply freely.
“The violations are rising every passing day. The authorities must adopt a zero tolerance policy towards traffic violations without distinguishing between petty and serious offences. The enforcement officials must ensure that commuters follow every traffic rule and for this adequate awareness also should be created,” said Biranchi Narayan Adhikari, retired joint commissioner of Commerce and Transport department.
2026: A year of hit-and-runs
Hit-and-runs and road rages used to be a thing of metropolitan cities but Bhubaneswar is quickly catching up with the deadly trend, thanks to deteriorating law and order, scant respect for traffic rules and patchy enforcement in the state capital.
May 29-30 night:
Six persons in a Mahindra Thar SUV allegedly mowed down a 24-year-old youth in city’s Chandrasekharpurarea over a love triangle dispute. The victim, Barun Rautray and his two friends, attempted to flee on a motorcycle but the accused chased and ran the SUV over them near Acharya Harihar Mahavidyalaya in Niladri Vihar at about 2 am. Barun died on the spot and the two others sustained serious injuries. Subsequently, police arrested main accused Suraj Biswakarma (23) and five others.
June 15:
Three persons were killed and at least four others were grievously hurt after a speeding electric car near Gajapati Nagar area. The car traveling at a high speed jumped a speed breaker and hit pedestrians standing in front of a tea stall near New Government Colony.
July 13:
A 20-year-old realtor’s son, Soumya Ranjan Rath,allegedly driving under the influence of alcohol rammed his Mercedes-Benz into a biker, killing him on the spot, in Sashtri Nagar area of the city. Rath was booked under section 281, 105 and 106(1) of BNS and 185 of the Motor Vehicles Act. Rath’s driving license was suspended for six months.He walked out of jail earlier this week and under the influence of alcohol, again attempted to mow down four people with his speeding electric car during early hours of October 12. He was again arrested.
July 26:
A 45-year-old man was hit by a speeding SUV which dragged him to a distance near Patrapada foot overbridge. He succumbed on the spot and his associate Kabi Mallick was injured.
October 13:
A black Mahindra Scorpio, driven by Bapuji Biswabandhan Biswal,hit multiple two-wheelers in Ghatikia area, leaving one person dead. The speeding SUV first hit a two-wheeler near NuagaonChhak, killing rider Manas Barik on the spot. Biswal then hit three to four two-wheelers before crashing the SUV into a road divider near a private hospital in Ghatikia. The city’s hit-and-run deaths in 2026 are not isolated accidents. They display a clear and deadly pattern of recklessness and scant fear of enforcement.