Senior Biju Janata Dal (BJD) leader and former Rajya Sabha MP Prasanna Acharya on Friday sustained severe injuries after his car collided with a gas tanker near Beldihi in Sambalpur district.
Visuals from the site of the accident.
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Police officials said Acharya was on his way to Bargarh from Bhubaneswar when his car had a head-on collision with the gas tanker in Rairakhol area.
Acharya and his personal security officer (PSO) were critically injured in the mishap, while his driver sustained minor injuries.
The leader and his PSO were rushed to a private hospital in Sambalpur after being administered first-aid treatment.
Though Acharya is stated to be stable, officials said he would be flown to Bhubaneswar by air ambulance for better care. Police have detained the tanker driver for interrogation.
Acharya is a frontrunner from the Rairakhol assembly constituency in Sambalpur for the upcoming state elections.
Debabrata Mohanty is a senior assistant editor of Hindustan Times who works as state correspondent from Odisha covering the state's politics, governance, public policy, natural disasters, environment and its society for close to three decades. With his long years of reporting from the state capital of Bhubaneswar, Mohanty has been known as one of the most experienced and credible journalists covering Odisha for the national English dailies. His reporting combines on-ground detail with deep institutional knowledge detailing the state's changing politics, governance issues, administrative reforms and the functioning of its public institutions. He has regularly reported on issues ranging from legislative developments and public policy implementation. Politics is his core areas of expertise as he closely tracks Odisha's political landscape, including the rise and transformation of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the Biju Janata Dal (BJD), the two principal political parties in Odisha. His long association with the state's political establishment enables him to write on contemporary developments in a larger political context. Mohanty takes a deep interest in writing human interest stories, environmental issues and documenting the impact of cyclones, floods, heatwaves, and other climate-related events in one of the most disaster-prone states. His coverage extends to public health, governance reforms and stories on accountability of government institutions. Before joining Hindustan Times, Mohanty worked with The Indian Express, Mail Today, and The Telegraph, where he covered at least six general elections and as many assembly elections. In 2007, he was selected for the prestigious Chevening Young Indian Print Journalist Programme at the University of Lincoln, United Kingdom, where he received advanced training in print journalism. In 2009 he won the Press Institute of India-International Committee of Red Cross award on conflict reporting for his on-ground reportage of 2008 Kandhamal riots.
