Bhubaneswar, Sept. 24: A mob set a truck and a fire tender on fire and ransacked Sadar police station here following the death of a school student in a road accident this morning.

The protesters damaged a police jeep and furniture inside the police station before blocking the NH-57. Later, the police charged baton to disperse them.

Chhagan Mallick, 12, a Class-VIII student of Brajendra High School, located by the NH-224 passing through the town, was run over by a speeding truck in front of the school when he was trying to cross the road, said sources.

The boy lived in a nearby village. “The boy was walking on the left side of the road when a speeding truck with a Bengal registration number hit him from behind and crushed him under its wheels. The driver fled from the spot abandoning the truck,” said Hrushikesh Pati, a trader.

Within minutes, a large number of people, most of them from the deceased’s village, gathered at the spot and blocked the road. They also set the truck on fire.

Nayagarh superintendent of police Bhagyadhar Behera rushed to the spot.

“The mob even set afire a fire tender vehicle that came over to dowse the fire in the truck. They also attacked a police jeep belonging to the town police station and damaged it. Later, the mob ransacked the Sadar police station and damaged equipment and other property,” said Behera.

A large number of vehicles were stranded with the mob blocking the national highway. The mob also ransacked nearby shops. The police had to baton-charge the protesters to disperse them.

“We will try to conduct a post-mortem of the body as soon as possible so that it can be handed over to the family members at the earliest. We are also looking for the absconding driver,” said Behera.