KUMUD JENAMANI
Jamshedpur, Dec 8: A local JMM leader Dharma Murmu (40) was killed on the spot when the motorcycle he was riding rammed into a speeding dumper at Block Office Chowk under Rajnagar thana area in the adjoining Seraikela-Kharsawan district on Thursday morning.
A resident of Rajnagar, Murmu was a confidant of Transport minister Champai Soren and Rajnagar Block 20-point program in-charge.
According to sources, Murmu was negotiating the Block Office Chowk crossing by riding his bike while the dumper was coming at a maddening speed from the Chaibasa end. The sources said sensing imminent danger, the victim had pressed the brake, but it failed to work as a result of which the bike collided with the heavy vehicle. Murmu died instantly.
Soon after the mishap, the driver and the dumper fled the scene having abandoned the vehicle at a little distance away.
The news of the accidental death of a prominent person like Dharma Murmu spread like a wildfire, causing a large number of JMM supporters to gather at the accident site. The agitated party men later went over to the Rajnagar thana and staged a gherao of it.
OC, Rajnagar thana, Chandan Kumar said the protesters who include members of the bereaved family were demanding the surrender of the dumper driver.
“We are holding negotiations with the protesters for ending the impasse. We are also trying to contact the dumper owner, ” said Kumar while talking to lagatar24.com.
Fatal mishaps on the Hata-Rajnagar-Chaibasa road are a regular affair as drivers of heavy vehicles tend to ply at a break-neck speed with the local police doing nothing to curb the menace.
