A 60-year-old pedestrian was killed after a motorcycle allegedly hit him while he was crossing a road at Purunapani under Barkote police limits in Odisha’s Deogarh district on Tuesday, prompting local residents to demand compensation for his family.
Police identified the deceased as Benjamin Minz, a resident of Purunapani. According to Barkote police, the crash took place at around 1.30 pm when the motorcycle, carrying a rider and a pillion passenger, allegedly struck Minz. He died at the scene.
The collision also threw both motorcycle occupants off the vehicle. They sustained injuries and were taken to Deogarh District Headquarters Hospital for treatment, police said. The condition of the injured riders was not provided in the report.
Following the crash, residents gathered at the spot and sought financial assistance for Minz’s family. Barkote police reached the location, took the body into custody and held discussions with the protesters. Officials assured the residents that assistance from the Red Cross would be provided after the required approval, while compensation through insurance provisions would also be facilitated.
The protest lasted nearly an hour. After the discussions, the body was sent for postmortem examination. Police also seized the motorcycle involved in the crash as part of the investigation.
S Badhei, inspector-in-charge of Barkote police station, said the rider would be arrested after being discharged from hospital. The report did not identify the rider or pillion passenger, and did not specify the insurance coverage or the amount of assistance sought by Minz’s family.
The incident places the immediate response to a fatal road crash on two parallel tracks: police action against the alleged rider and the processing of financial support for the bereaved family. The next recorded steps are the postmortem examination, continued treatment of the injured motorcycle occupants and the proposed compensation process through Red Cross assistance and insurance provisions.
