Bhubaneswar, July 4: One policeman was killed and another sustained injuries in a road accident at Pahala on NH-5 in the wee hours today.

Ironically, the two policemen had come to rescue some accident victims at the spot.

While the team from Balianta police station on the city outskirts was trying to rescue the victims of an accident on the highway and clear the road, another truck coming from the Cuttack side hit the two policemen.

The deceased was identified as Bamadev Nayak, 25, a homeguard, and the injured as assistant sub-inspector Prafulla Kumar Pattnaik, 40, a native of Khalikote.

The victims were rushed to Capital Hospital where the homeguard died after preliminary treatment. Pattnaik was shifted to another private hospital as his condition had deteriorated.

Police have seized the truck and detained the helper. A case has been registered. “We are probing into the matter. We will forward the helper to court,” said a police officer.

Police said that around 4pm, they got information that the vehicle of an electronic media house that was returning from Puri met with an accident. The vehicle had hit the road divider and three persons in the vehicle sustained injuries. Soon the police team rescued the injured and sent them to S.C.B. Medical College and Hospital. Later, while they were removing the vehicle from the road, a speeding truck with an Andhra Pradesh registration number hit it, which, in turn, hit the police van kept on the road.

The vehicle hit both the policemen standing nearby. The police van ran over the homeguard, while Pattnaik was thrown away after being hit by the van. Soon other policemen on the spot rushed them to hospital. Later, the senior police officers rushed to the spot apprehending tension in the area.

In another accident at Pitapalli on NH-5 under Jatani police limit, an electrician was severely injured and admitted to Capital Hospital. The injured was identified as Pramod Muduli, 35, an electrician and native of Khurda.