Bhubaneswar Police arrested 20-year-old law student Soumya Ranjan Rath on Monday after he allegedly tried to run over three workers outside a roadside dhaba in Kesura and then damaged seven motorcycles while fleeing along the Cuttack-Puri bypass. Three bikers were injured and were reported to be in stable condition.
Police said the incident followed a scuffle outside the eatery, although the exact trigger for the altercation is still being investigated. Rath allegedly used a car to try to hit the dhaba employees before driving away from the scene. During the escape, the vehicle was involved in a series of collisions on the bypass, according to the police.
Bhubaneswar DCP Saravana Vivek M said Rath had been arrested on charges of attempt to murder. ACP (Zone IV) Abhimanyu Nayak said a medical examination confirmed that Rath had been driving under the influence of alcohol.
Police said Rath abandoned the vehicle on the bypass and attempted to escape by boarding a bus. Local residents caught him before he could get away. Four separate cases have been registered at Badagada police station: one on the complaint of dhaba owner Tapan Das and three based on complaints from the injured bikers.
The latest arrest comes just over a month after Rath was granted bail in the fatal Sastri Nagar Mercedes crash case. In that incident, 37-year-old biker Debi Prasad Routray died on July 13 after allegedly being hit from behind by Rath’s Mercedes. Rath was arrested in that case and granted bail in August, about three weeks later.
Police clarified that the current case is separate from the Sastri Nagar crash case. Nayak said the earlier case involved alleged drunk and rash driving, while the latest incident involved what police described as a deliberate attempt to run over specific people.
Investigators have also seized an identity card bearing the name of police officer Tapan Pattnaik from Rath’s vehicle. Police are examining whether the card is genuine. The Regional Transport Office has been asked to cancel Rath’s driving licence and the registration of the vehicle, which is registered in the name of a family member.
The case places renewed attention on the enforcement challenges created when alcohol-impaired driving, high-speed roads and attempts to evade arrest converge in expanding urban corridors. The immediate police action remains focused on the four cases registered at Badagada police station and the investigation into the seized identity card.
