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'Sabotage'? Why railways sought CBI probe into three-train collision in Odisha
Railway officials indicated that possible “sabotage” and tampering with electronic interlocking system, which detects presence of trains, led to the accident.
A day after railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Friday night's horrifying train accident in Odisha in which 275 people died and 1,100 were injured, government sources on Monday said there was “deliberate interference” in the system and that information came to the fore during the initial investigation by a professional agency, news agency PTI reported.
The reactions came even as the Opposition, including the Congress on Monday accused the BJP-led Centre of playing with the lives of railway passengers by not focussing on their safety and security and hit out at the railways for seeking a CBI probe.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the probe agency cannot fix accountability for technical, institutional and political failures, a day after the railways sought a CBI probe into the tragedy.
Reacting to questions on the need for a CBI probe when the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was already probing the incident, an official told PTI that the preliminary inquiry revealed the need for a more thorough investigation.
“Lot of information has come during the course of the investigation. Various kinds of information have been made available which required a professional investigative agency,” PTI quoted the official as saying.
'Initial findings entail inquiry by professional agency'
The accident in which a speeding Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train on the loop line instead of travelling on the main line indicated issues with the electronic interlocking system which changed the route of the train and led to the collision.
"Unless there is deliberate interference in the system, it is impossible that a route set for the main line is switched to the loop line," he said.
Railway officials have indicated that possible "sabotage" and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the accident.
Root cause identified: Vaishnaw
Vaishnaw on Sunday claimed that the “root cause” of the accident and the "criminals" responsible for it have been identified.
"The setting of the point machine was changed. How and why it was done will be revealed in the probe report," he said.
"The root cause of the horrifying incident has been identified... I do not want to go into details. Let the report come out. I will just say that the root cause and the people responsible for the criminal act have been identified," he added.
Railway officials, news agency PTI reported, also indicated that possible "sabotage" and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.
CBI all set to take over the probe
The CBI is all set to take over the investigation in the Balasore train accident.
In accordance with the procedure, the central agency will take over the Balasore GRP case number 64 registered by Odisha Police on June 3, a day after the accident in Odisha involving two passengers trains and a goods train.
The case was registered under IPC sections 337, 338, 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) and sections 153 (unlawful and negligent action endangering lives of Railway passengers ), 154 and 175 (endangering lives) of the Railways Act.
It is likely to be allotted to Special Crime Unit at the Delhi headquarters.
According to the procedure, the CBI re-registers the local police FIR as its own case and starts the probe. It can add or remove a charge from the FIR in its charge sheet filed after the completion of its probe.
(With inputs from agencies)
