Jamshedpur: Traffic on the Tata–Hata road remained blocked until early Sunday after villagers staged a protest following the death of two teenagers who were run over by a speeding truck on Saturday evening. The driver was arrested, police said.The accident occurred at Potka Chowk in Kudada under Sundernagar police station limits when two bike-borne boys — Durga Hembram (15) and Marshal Soren (14) — were hit by a truck. Both died on the spot.The victims, residents of Kedo village, were returning home from a local market when the incident occurred, police said.After the accident, the driver abandoned the vehicle and tried to flee, but locals chased and caught him. The mob vandalised the truck, assaulted the driver and tied him to the bonnet.Villagers then blocked the road and refused to hand over the driver or allow police to take the bodies for post-mortem until their demands for ex-gratia for the victims’ families and construction of a speed breaker at the site were met.Police and local representatives held negotiations with the truck owner through the night.The blockade was lifted early Sunday after both sides agreed on a compensation amount.The protest led to a traffic jam stretching nearly 6 km on both sides of the road, leaving vehicles travelling to and from Chaibasa and Odisha stranded.Sundernagar police station officer-in-charge Ajit Kumar said the blockade was lifted around 9 am after the compensation issue was resolved.The driver was arrested and the bodies were sent to MGMMCH for post-mortem.
