Railways seeks CBI probe: Ashwini Vaishnaw hints at sabotage
Union Ministers Ashwini Vaishnaw and Dharmendra Pradhan take stock of the ongoing restoration work at the triple train accident site, at Bahanaga Bazar in Balasore on Sunday
Balasore: The Railway Board on Sunday sought a CBI inquiry into the Balasore train crash, hours after Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said the "root cause" of the accident and the people behind the "criminal" act have been identified.
Railway officials also indicated that possible "sabotage" and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident that has so far claimed 275 lives.
Announcing this on Sunday evening, Vaishnaw said, “We have recommended a CBI probe into the triple train accident that claimed 275 lives and left over 1,000 injured.” Ruling out driver error and system malfunction, Vaishnaw indicated at a possible "sabotage" and tampering of the electronic interlocking system behind the triple train accident. He said the "root cause" of the accident and the "criminals" responsible for it have been identified. "It happened due to a change made in the electronic interlocking and point machine," he told reporters at the site of the accident in Balasore district.
The minister further said the Centre along with the support of the state government was giving all support to the injured passengers who are admitted to various hospitals in Balasore, Cuttack and Bhubaneswar. “Injured passengers are being given all facilities in hospitals. There are teams of doctors who are taking care of them round-the-clock,” Vaishnaw said. He said the govt was trying to get in touch with the families of the deceased. “We are trying to get in touch with families of the dead,” the minister added. Chief Secretary P K Jena said some bodies were counted twice. "After detailed verification and a report by the Balasore District Collector, the final toll has been fixed at 275," he said.
Three trains— Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah superfast and a goods train — were involved in the pile-up on Friday, now being described as one of India's worst train accidents. The Coromandel Express rammed into a stationary goods train and many of its carriages overturned including some onto another train - the Bengaluru-Howrah superfast express which was also passing by at the same time on Friday.