Bhubaneswar: A 24-year-old youth was allegedly crushed to death under an SUV in a case of ‘love triangle’ in the Odisha capital here last night.

The deceased has been identified as Barun Kumar Routray of Chandrasekharpur area.

The police have arrested prime accused Suraj Biswakarma (23) and five of his aides—Brahmananda Das (36), Chidananda Das (31), Asish Dehury (30), Swastik Bharadwaj and Sridhar Nayak (20)—and launched a probe into the incident.

According to the cops, Suraj was in a relationship with a woman for last several days. However, the woman developed a friendship with Barun recently. This led to an enmity between Suraj and Barun and the duo had clashed over the issue several times in recent past, said the police.

The two sides gathered near a juice stall at Shailashree Vihar area of the city last night to settle the issue. However, a scuffle ensued between the two rival groups following an argument, added the police.

Soon after the scuffle, Barun and his friends left the place on their bikes. However, Suraj and his aides chased them in an SUV (Mahindra Thar) and hit Barun’s bike from the rear. They allegedly drove the SUV on Barun after he fell off the bike.

The 24-year-old died after sustaining grievous injuries in the incident. Two of his friends also sustained injuries and were rushed to a nearby hospital, police said.

The police registered a case and arrested Suraj and his friends on the basis of a complaint lodged by the deceased’s family. The cops also seized the SUV used in the crime.