The Tata-Kandra road, which is devoid of any street lights, claimed the life of a 50-year-old man late on Sunday night, leading the local residents to set up a blockade on the road which was cleared in the wee hours on Monday. The mishap took place near a petrol station in Chhota Gamharia under Gamharia thana area in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district about seven km away from here.
The victim identified as Salki Tuddu was crossing the road on foot while returning home at around 9.30 pm when he fell victim to two speeding cars.
A resident of adjoining Balrampur village in Gamharia said that Tuddu was first hit by a speeding car that was coming from the Kandra end, causing him to get flung apart on the road. As he fell down, another speeding car which was coming from the same direction hit him once again causing him to die on the spot.
Both the killer cars had sped away towards Jamshedpur.
Soon after the mishap, the family members of the victim and local residents set up the blockade with the body at the mishap spot demanding compensation.
The blockade which was set up at about 10 pm on Sunday, was cleared at about 1 am on Sunday after the Gamharia Circle Officer, Dhananjay Rai paid the victim's family members Rs 10,000 as ex-gracia amount.
OC, Gamharia thana, Krishna Murari confirmed the man was killed after being dashed by two cars.
"The road is unlit. The victim's vision might have got blurred due to the beams of the speeding car while he was crossing the road. We are trying to trace the cars involved in the mishap," said Murari while talking to The Telegraph Online.
Father of two sons and as many daughters, Tuddu was busy arranging for the marriage of his elder daughter scheduled to be held on February 17. He was returning home from a relative's house in a sequel to his daughter's marriage as the mishap took place.
The 15-km-long Tata-Kandra Road which links Adityapur with the steel city at Bistupur is considered to be the lifelines for the Adityapur industrial area. But this important road, which also links to Seraikela on one side and NH-33 through Kandra-Chowka road on the other hand, remains unlit.
As a result of the dark road, the pedestrians and two-wheeler riders find it very difficult to negotiate the unlit road in the face of cars and heavy vehicles' headlight beams.