In a tragic incident, a six-year-old boy died in the city when ‘Swabhiman Rath’ vehicle of the BJD hit the minor near the Bhubaneswar Club here on Wednesday.
The vehicle was used for transporting party supporters to the Yuva Samavesh organised by the Biju Yuva Janata Dal (BYJD). The boy identified as Harsh Mandal, only son of gupchup vendor Bajrangi Mandal, was staying at a slum in Unit-6 area of the city.
According to reports, the party vehicle coming from Puri suddenly hit the boy who was standing with his father near the Bhubaneswar Club. He was admitted at the Capital Hospital. After a few minutes, BYJD president Sanjay Dasburma’s people came to the hospital and gave the boy’s parents `1,000 to buy medicines.
“The party men didn’t care to ask about the condition of our son and his further treatment,” said the parents of the boy. Harsh succumbed to his injuries at the hospital in the wee hours of Thursday, said sources. Soon after the death of the boy, the party men sensing trouble rushed to the hospital and used police to bury the body at the Satyanagar crematorium, said the sources.
After getting information about the police trick, Congress and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) workers rushed to the crematorium and staged a road blockade in front of it. The traffic on the road connecting Vani Vihar to Master Canteen was affected for one hour due to the blockade.
NCP leader Ganesh Das demanded arrest of Dasburma under Section 302 of the IPC in connection with the death of the boy. He also demanded that BYJD pay Rs 10 lakh to the deceased’s kin as compensation. Similarly, Congress leader Abhay Mallick criticised the BJD for the inhuman act.