Odisha Train Accident: Railway Official Suspects 'Deliberate Interference'; CBI Begins Probe

BHUBANESWAR: A 10-member CBI team on Monday visited the Balasore train accident site and began its probe into the triple train crash, a Railway official said. ECoR's Khurda Road division DRM Rintesh Ray said that according to his information, the CBI probe has begun but the details were not immediately known. The Railway Board on Sunday recommended a CBI probe into the accident.

Earlier, Commissioner of Railway Safety Shailesh Kumar Pathak visited the accident site where he went to the control room, signal room and signal point at Bahanaga Bazar railway station. This apart, the Government Railway Police in Balasore has registered a case on June 3 under various sections of Indian Penal Code and Railway Act over the accident.

Reacting to questions on the need for a CBI probe when the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was already probing the incident, an official indicated 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," he said.

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.

The railways has also launched a safety drive with a slew of directions to all zonal headquarters on the security of station relay rooms and compounds housing signalling equipment, including "double locking arrangements", after an initial probe showed "signalling interference" as a suspected reason behind the Odisha triple-train accident.

In accordance with the procedure, the CBI has taken over the Balasore GRP case number 64 registered by Odisha Police on June 3, official sources said. The case was registered under various IPC sections like 37 and 38 (related to causing hurt and endangering lives through rash or negligent action), 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.