Two ward members were killed and another person was critically injured after a truck rammed into an e-rickshaw near Paithani Chowk in Pandarak block of Patna district on Wednesday morning, triggering a protest and temporarily blocking NH-31.
The victims were identified as Suresh Prasad and Lalu Kumar, both ward members of Paithani village. The injured man, Sanjeet Kumar, was first taken to Barh sub-divisional hospital and later referred to Patna Medical College and Hospital for advanced treatment.
According to Pandarak police, the three men were loading vegetables onto the e-rickshaw near Paithani Chowk and were preparing to travel to Barh Bazaar Samiti when the truck struck the vehicle from behind. Police said the accident occurred at about 6.15am.
Local residents helped take all three men to the hospital. Doctors at the Barh facility declared Prasad and Kumar dead, while Sanjeet Kumar was referred to PMCH because of the severity of his injuries.
The crash led residents to block NH-31, a busy highway corridor, as they demanded compensation for the victims’ families and strict action against the truck driver. The blockade resulted in long queues of vehicles on both sides of the road and disrupted movement for commuters.
Pandarak police station SHO Navneet Rai and a police team reached the site after receiving information about the accident. Police said they pacified the protesters and restored traffic movement on the highway.
Rai told the Times of India that the truck driver fled the spot after the collision. Police said the vehicle’s number was captured in CCTV footage and that efforts were under way to trace and arrest the driver.
The incident brought together two immediate urban and regional mobility concerns: the safety of people carrying out early-morning livelihood activities beside a major highway and the wider traffic disruption that follows a serious crash on a busy road. In this case, the victims were loading vegetables for onward travel to a local market when the collision occurred.
Police action is now focused on identifying and arresting the truck driver using the vehicle number recorded in CCTV footage. Traffic on NH-31 was restored after the protest was brought under control.
