The accident-prone crossing at Rasulgarh Square in Bhubaneswar. Picture by Ashwinee Pati

Bhubaneswar, April 3: Rasulgarh Square — the busy intersection of NH-5 (Calcutta-Chennai highway) and NH-203 (Cuttack-Puri highway) — has become a vulnerable spot for motorists with accidents occurring at frequent intervals.

The stretch between Hansapal and Rasulgarh Square has also become accident-prone.

Not only highway drivers, but even local residents feel unsafe driving on this stretch after dark as most accidents take place there during night when the traffic policemen are not on duty.

“With heavy vehicles moving fast during night hours on this highway, we dare not drive along this road or try to cross it after 10pm,” said Ramesh Rath, a resident of Palasuni.

The latest accident occurred late last night at Palasuni Square, around 300 metres away from Rasulgarh, in which two youths were ran over by a truck.

Mancheswar police identified the deceased duo as Gupteswar Padhi, 26, of Rayagada and Rabindra Behera, 30, of Berhampur.

They were returning from Cuttack around 1.30 in the night when their motorcycle skidded falling on a roadside heap of sand as they were trying to overtake a truck. Both of them fell in front of the speeding truck.

Nishikant Majhi, a local resident who was going to watch a theatre at GGP Colony when the accident occurred in front of him, said that the truck ran over Behera’s abdomen and crushed Padhi’s head.

“Both of them died on the spot. Padhi was driving the two-wheeler while Behera was riding pillion. Later, a police control room van coming from Cuttack’s side reached there and rescued the bodies,” said Majhi.

A relative of Padhi said that the deceased used to stay and work in Delhi and that he came to Bhubaneswar last evening. “He had gone to Cuttack with his friend and the accident took place while they were returning,” said the relative.

The other deceased, Behera, was working with a real estate company here and was residing at Mancheswar.

The police could not trace the truck as it fled the spot after the accident.

“We have seized the motorcycle and have registered a case of accident. We are trying to spot the truck,” said a senior police officer probing the matter.