Protesters block Puri bypass road after the student’s death at Pandara Square on Monday. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, Dec. 23: Tension gripped Pandara Square this morning following the death of an engineering student in a road mishap.

A mob had blocked the Puri bypass road for hours by burning tyres and demanded police action to check the speed of vehicles.

The accident took place around 5.15am, when one Tata Magic hit Rashmi Ranjan Mallick, 25, when she was on a morning walk.

Rashmi died on the spot, while as another victim was rushed to hospital. Though the police managed to seize the vehicle, the driver had escaped.

“The driver might have fallen asleep as it was early morning,” said an official of Mancheswar police station.

Local residents demanded speed breakers and deployment of adequate traffic personnel on the stretch to curb frequent accidents.

“A number of road mishaps have taken place on this stretch in recent times. Though we have been demanding construction of speed breakers on the road, the police are yet to take any steps,” said local resident Mohan Sethy.

In a similar incident on October 29, tension had erupted at Pandara Square after death of two persons in a road mishap. At that time, the local residents had put up a roadblock on the National Highway 203 for nearly half an hour and also set the mini truck, which had hit the victim’s motorcycle, on fire.

On the other hand, a traffic official said speed breakers had been constructed at several places on the new bypass road.

“We have also deployed our personnel at Pandara Square. Similarly, a number of stop boards have also been installed to restrict the speed of vehicles,” said assistant commissioner of police (traffic) Binod Das.