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Negligence leads to death of two youths

CUTTACK: For sheer negligence of a railway contractor, two lives were lost in tragic circumstances leading to complete disruption of traffic on NH-5 near Madhupatna Square here all through Saturday night. One of the victims was celebrating his birthday on the day. The bodies were removed from the spot early on Sunday morning and normal traffic was restored but no action has yet been initiated against the contractor till Sunday evening even as a complaint was lodged with the railway police.

The incident took place around 11 pm on Saturday when two local youths were returning on a motorbike and hit a thick plastic rope tied across one of the lanes on the main road. “Both of them died on the spot after profusely bleeding as their throats were slit open by the plastic rope,” police confirmed.

Pramod Kumar Das of local Kalyaninagar was celebrating his 24th birthday and he had gone to the market to purchase cake and ice cream for a late night party. His close friend Nishith Ranjan Mohanty of neighbouring Tinigharia was accompanying him in his new bike. But they could not return home for celebration instead, tragedy struck both families. Nishith was the only son of his old parents while Pramod was the only earning member of his family. The railway contractor had tied the thick rope across the lane to stop traffic for carrying some repair work of the nearby culvert at night. Eyewitnesses said, the rope was tied at a dark place and there was no ‘Stop’ signal placed anywhere near the spot. Nor was there any person to divert the traffic, sources said.

Locals allege that the rope was not visible and the contractor had not made any arrangements to alert the passersby.

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