After finishing their poll duties when a couple of polling parties deployed at booth numbers 160 and 188 under Kulailo Gram Panchayat were coming to the office of the Sub-Collector here with EVMs and other materials on Thursday evening, their 407- mini truck met with an accident, killing a Presiding Officer and injuring six others.
The deceased was identified as TK Satpathy, IPO of DIC, Cuttack. According to sources, when the polling party truck was coming on a highway, another truck coming from the opposite direction collided with it head on. The cabin of the 407-mini truck was damaged where Presiding Officer Satpathy and first polling officer Shaikh Allauddin were sitting. Satpathy was killed on the spot.
MlA Ranendra Pratap Swain and other administrative officers rushed to the spot. Satpathy and Allauddin were brought outside the mangled cabin by using a gas cutter. Allauddin was in serious condition.
Others who were injured included driver Bijay Kumar Sahoo, Gramrakhi laxmidhar Naik, Dillip Kumar Tripathy, Bairagi Chandra Biswal and Udayanath Behera. They were shifted to the Athagarh headquarters hospital. However, Allauddin and laxmidhar were shifted to the SCB Medical College Hospital at Cuttack as their condition deteriorated.
The local administration handed over the body of Satpathy to his kin. Sub collector Madhusudan Mishra told this paper that assistance as fixed by the ECI would be given to the bereaved family.
Meanwhile, Cuttack Collector Girish SN paid a visit to Satpathy’s house and met his kin. He expressed his condolence for the deceased and assured Satpathy’s family of providing Rs20 lakh as assistance very soon.