The Central Bureau of Investigation has arrested three Indian Railway employees on Friday in connection with the deadly triple train accident in Odisha's Balasore on June 2 in which 291 passengers died and more than 1,000 people were left severely injured. The central agency taking over the probe to investigate the possibility of a criminal conspiracy into the accident. The arrests were made under Sections 304 and 201 CrPC.
The arrested employees are identified as senior section engineer Arun Kumar Mohanta, section engineer Mohammad Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar.
CBI spokesman R C Joshi said, "The CBI today arrested then SSE (Signal) Balasore, then SSE (Signal) Soro, and then technician Balasore under IPC sections 304 and 201 and section 153 of the Railways Act, 1989, in an ongoing investigation of the case related to the train mishap at Bahanagar Bazar Railway Station (BNBR), Balasore, Odisha."
All three officials will now be produced before a special magistrate on Saturday to seek their police custody following which their custodial interrogation will begin. The CBI will also have to file a charge sheet within 90 days else the arrested personnel will become eligible for default bail.
What happened on June 2?
The accident took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore at 6:55 PM when a collision took place between train number Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur-Howrah Express and a stationary goods train that led to the overturning of several bogies. The bogies of the trains 'capsized' resulting in several fatalities and injuries to a lot of passengers travelling in the two trains.
PM Modi and Railway Minister visited Balasore
The very next morning Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw rushed to the spot and after reviewing said the 'root cause' of the accident has been identified and he hinted that 'someone' made a change 'to the electronic interlocking machine, the configuration of the track', resulting in the collision.
"It is about point machine, electronic interlocking. The change that occurred during electronic interlocking, the accident happened due to that. Whosoever did it and how it happened will be found out after proper investigation," Vaishnaw said.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi also visited Odisha to take stock of the situation and promised “stringent action” against those found guilty. There he reviewed the relief work and also interacted with the local authorities and the railways officials.
Expressing grief, he said, "It's a painful incident. The government will leave no stone unturned for the treatment of those injured. It's a serious incident, and instructions have been issued for the probe from every angle. Those found guilty will be punished stringently. The railways is working towards track restoration. I met the injured victims.”
Later taking to Twitter, PM Modi said that the government is standing committed to provide all the possible assistance to those affected.
PM wrote, "Took stock of the situation at the site of the tragedy in Odisha. Words can’t capture my deep sorrow. We stand committed to providing all possible assistance to those affected. I laud all those working round the clock, on the ground, and helping out in relief work.”
Railway Board recommended CBI probe
Meanwhile, Railway Board spokesperson Jaya Verma Sinha said, "As the minister said, there was a problem with the signalling system. It could be that someone had done some digging without seeing the cables. Running of any machine is prone to failure."
However, the Railway Board could not rule out the possibility of sabotage and thus recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI). After lodging an FIR, CBI began its investigation into the alleged criminal negligence. The CBI has now arrested the three Railways personnel under sections related to the destruction of evidence and culpable homicide.
CRS states signalling and human error
In a conversation with Republic TV, the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) said human error, signalling error, and telecommunications error at multiple levels were the major cause of mishap in Odisha.
The senior official of CRB said, “The report was submitted in the initial days of last week. We are going through the report with minute-to-minute details. We can only say that S&T (Signals & Transmission) department lapses at multiple levels led to the triple-train accident. It was a human error as the rear collision was due to the lapses in the signalling circuit alteration carried out at the North Signal Goomty (of the station) in the past and during the execution of the signalling work related to the replacement of the Electric Lifting Barrier for level crossing gate no. 94 at the station.”
Republic TV also visited the railway control room on June 3 and noted that the entire system was manually operated by railway officials due to the ongoing repair work.
An official said, "Signalling and telecommunication were not aligned with each other and that could be one of the reasons for the collision. Point lock for interlocking was not put in place.”
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CBI arrests 3 railway officials in Balasore triple train crash that killed 291 passengers - Republic World
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