Three persons were killed when the motorcycle by which they were travelling had a head-on collision with a pickup van in Mohana area of Gajapati district on Monday.
The deceased were identified as Sudhir Mallick, Maila Mallick from Ramraju village and Ram Mallick from Hoeru village.
According to reports, the incident took place when the trio was returning back home from Mohana and speeding a pick-up van coming from the opposite direction hit the bike. The collision was so powerful that the three died on the spot. However, the pick-up van driver managed to flee from the spot soon after the mishap.
Tension prevailed at the spot following the incident and irate locals stage a blockade by placing stones on the road demanding compensation and arrest of the accused van driver.
Getting information, police reached the spot and pacified the locals, seized the bodies for postmortem. The cops also seized the van and launched a manhunt to nab the absconding driver.