Villagers gather on NH-5 to protest against death of a school boy. Telegraph picture

Balasore, Feb. 23: Vehicular movement on NH-5, which connects Balasore with Baripada, was disrupted for more than two hours today following a roadblock by people agitating against the death of a school student.

Anil Jena, a Class X student of Raghunath Jew High School, Odombor, was run over by a speeding truck near Nuagaon this morning. The accident happened when he was returning from school after collecting his admit card for the board examinations scheduled to begin from Monday. He was on a bicycle.

About 500 people, including local residents and school students, disrupted traffic on NH-5 following the accident. The angry local residents refused to hand over the deceased’s body to the police.

The situation was brought under control only after the intervention of the district administration. Remuna tehsildar Manas Padhi and sub-divisional police officer Kailash Chandra Parida rushed to the accident spot.

“The protesters demanded speed-breakers and a ban on roadside parking on the highway. We are taking measures to ensure road safety on the highway,” said Padhi.

“The district administration provided an ex-gratia compensation of Rs 10,000 to the deceased’s family. The school student’s body was removed from the spot after much persuasion. It was later sent for post-mortem,” he said.

An eyewitness, Manoj Das, said: “The truck was on the wrong side when the accident occurred. The truck’s driver fled from the spot soon after the mishap. The vehicle was going towards Baripada.”