CBI arrests three railways officials in Balasore train crash probe
CBI arrested three railway officials in connection with the Odisha train crash that killed over 290 passengers.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested three railways officials in connection with the horrific Odisha triple train crash in which over 290 passengers lost their lives.
The arrested railways employees have been identified as Arun Kumar Mahanta, senior section engineer; Mohammad Amir Khan, section engineer; and technician Pappu Kumar. The central probe agency said that the accused have been arrested under sections 304 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code for “their action which led to the incident,” without describing what they exactly did.
The two stringent sections related to culpable homicide and destruction of evidence have been added by the CBI in its case now after a month-long investigation. The agency had not invoked these sections in its first information report (FIR) filed last month, which was a re-registration of the Odisha police’s case.
The arrest came days after the Commissioner of Railways Safety (CRS) submitted its report on the Balasore accident on Wednesday to the railway board. The probe found faulty signalling due to two botched repair works, including one in 2018 and one hours before the accident, the reason behind the Coromandel Express going on a collision course with a goods train on another track.
“The rear-collision (of Coromandel Express) was due to the lapses in the signalling-circuit-alteration carried out… in the past and during the execution of the signalling work related to replacement of electric lifting barrier for level crossing gate number 94 at the station,” said the report, which HT has seen.
The Railways, however, did not make public the CRS probe report on the Balasore triple train accident to ensure that there is no "influence or interference" on the CBI's ongoing investigation in the case, according to officials matter with the matter.