Bhubaneswar, April 22: Two persons were killed when a mini truck hit a motorcycle on Sundarapada-Jatani Road at Panchagaon in the city today.

While the two persons, who were travelling on the motorcycle, died on the spot, three others were injured when the truck rammed into nearby shops.

The deceased have been identified as Girish Mehta, a mason, and his helper Niranjan Pradhan. Mehta was a native of Bihar while Pradhan was from Ganjam. The truck was allegedly involved in illegal transportation of laterite stones.

Though police nabbed the helper a few hours after the accident, the truck driver is still on the run.

"The vehicle had a head-on collision with the motorcycle, and then it overturned and rammed into the nearby shops," said Jayant Sethy, an eyewitness.

Shortly after the incident, hundreds of residents had blocked the Sundarapada-Jatni Road for several hours, demanding arrest of the driver and compensation to the family of the deceased.

The protest took an ugly turn when Jatni tehsildar reached the spot. The mob had allegedly manhandled and detained him for around three hours.

The local people wanted to know how illegal transportation of laterite stone was taking place in the area.

"Though we have been asking the authorities to take steps so that such illegal activities could be stopped in the area, they are yet to do anything. Besides, most of the time, the vehicles carrying these stones are found breaking the speed limit," alleged Sourabh Samal, a local resident.

The situation was brought under control after the authorities announced a compensation of Rs 10,000 for each of the deceased.

"We are trying to find out if the vehicle was carrying laterite stones or not," said assistant commissioner of police Anil Kumar Patra.