Bhubaneswar: A speeding SUV struck a bull on the Bhubaneswar–Puri stretch of National Highway-316 before ramming into a bike, killing both the stray animal and the biker near Pipili toll plaza in Puri district in the early hours of Wednesday. The driver fled the scene after the accident.Police identified the deceased as Ashok Kumar Das (64), a retired govt employee. The accident took place around 4 am at Kamasara, barely 2km ahead of the Pipili toll plaza towards Bhubaneswar.“The Bhubaneswar‑bound SUV from Puri first hit the bull which was sleeping in the middle of the road and then crashed into Das’s motorcycle from behind. Das was reportedly on his way to pluck flowers from the median of the highway,” inspector-in-charge of Pipili police station, Soumyendu Tripathi, said.The impact threw Das off his bike, leaving him critically injured. The SUV veered off the road and plunged into a paddy field. When police reached the spot, they found only one passenger inside the vehicle — an engineering student in his 20s — who was trapped in the rear seat with multiple injuries. Das lay unconscious near the road.Both men were rushed to the Pipili primary health centre where Das was declared dead on arrival. The injured student was later shifted to Capital Hospital in Bhubaneswar. “He has sustained fractures and internal injuries but is out of danger,” a doctor at the hospital said.Based on the student’s statement, police learnt that four other men, including the driver, were travelling in the SUV. Investigators suspect they abandoned their injured friend and fled immediately after the crash. “We have ascertained their identities and efforts are on to arrest the driver. Prima facie, we cannot rule out drunken driving,” another police officer said.Police have registered a case and intensified search operations to trace the absconding driver and his companions to establish the sequence of events.Locals expressed shock over the incident, alleging that stray cattle roaming the highways remain a grave risk. “These animals are a constant danger. Authorities must act decisively before more lives are lost,” local resident Pradyumna Kumar Subudhi said, while urging stricter enforcement and preventive measures.