5 police personnel killed, 3 critical as trailer rams patrol vehicle in Odisha

Five police personnel killed and three injured after a speeding trailer collided head-on with a patrol vehicle in Jharsuguda, Odisha

Updated on: Feb 22, 2026, 11:33:56 IST

By Debabrata Mohanty

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Bhubaneswar: Five police personnel were killed and three others critically injured early on Sunday morning after a speeding trailer rammed into a police vehicle in Odisha’s Jharsuguda district, police said.

Jharsuguda Superintendent of Police (SP) Gundala Raghavendra Reddy said the collision occurred at dawn in front of the Jharsuguda Sadar Police Station.

The police vehicle was on patrol duty when the trailer, travelling at high speed from the opposite direction, collided head-on with it. “The exact sequence of events is yet to be established. We are interrogating the trailer driver,” said the SP.

Police have identified the deceased as Armed Police Reserve personnel Kashiram Bhoi and Debadatta Sa, Drill Sub-Inspector Niranjan Kujur, Armed Police Reserve havildar Lingaraj Dhurua, and Home Guard Bhaktabandhu Mirdha.

Three others — two APR personnel and a sergeant — who were injured were taken to the Jharsuguda District Headquarters Hospital.

According to accident data for 2024 released by the Commerce and Transport Department, overspeeding led to 7,269 road accidents and 3,846 deaths, while wrong-side driving claimed 470 lives in 1,103 accidents. Drunken driving and drug consumption caused 317 deaths in 838 accidents, mobile phone use while driving resulted in 235 deaths in 585 accidents, and jumping red lights led to 35 deaths in 88 accidents.

The data show that 55 per cent of all accidents and 56 per cent of fatalities in 2024 occurred on national and state highways. Two-wheelers were involved in the highest number of crashes — 5,490 accidents resulting in 3,017 deaths — followed by cars, taxis and LMVs (1,796 accidents and 739 deaths), and trucks and lorries (1,296 accidents and 607 fatalities).

Over the last decade, more than 47,000 people have died and over one lakh have been seriously injured in road accidents in Odisha. On average, 16 people lose their lives every day on the state’s roads, placing Odisha among the states with the highest accident severity rates.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Debabrata Mohanty
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.Read More

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