JAJPUR: Four youths out on a morning walk were injured, three of them grievously, after being knocked down by a speeding bus near Kujhala chowk under Jajpur Sadar police limits on Sunday.
The injured are Mantu Jena, Badal Jena, Chintu Jena and Rakesh Kumar Jena, all of Kujhala village and aged between 20 and 22 years. The mishap took place when the four were out for their daily morning walk on Bari-Kuakhia road.
Sources said the youths were walking along the road when the private passenger bus en route to Cuttack from Bari hit them from behind and sped away. Locals rescued the injured and rushed them to Jajpur district headquarters hospital. Later, three of them were shifted to SCB Medical College and Hospital in Cuttack after their condition deteriorated.
As the news of the accident spread, tension flared up in the area with hundreds of local residents staging road blockade at the mishap site demanding action against the bus driver and adequate compensation to the injured. Due to the blockade, vehicular traffic on Bari-Kuakhia road was disrupted for three hours.
On being informed, Jajpur Sadar police reached the spot and held discussion with the agitators. The blockade was withdrawn after police assured the irate locals of action against the errant bus driver and compensation to the injured youths.
Later in the day, police seized the bus involved in the mishap and detained its driver. Jajpur sub-divisional police officer (SDPO) Prasant Kumar Majhi said, “The bus driver has been detained and is being questioned. Discussion is underway with the bus owner to make arrangements for compensation to the victims of the mishap.”
