CBI Arrests 3 Railway Officials In Connection With Balasore Rail Mishap

Bhubaneswar, July 7: The CBI, probing the Balasore rail accident that claimed 293 lives, made its first arrest on Friday. Arun Kumar Mahanta, a Senior Section Engineer (signal), Mohammed Amir Khan, a Section Engineer, and Pappu Kumar, a technician have been arrested and charged with culpable homicide not amounting to murder and destruction of evidence.

Sources said that the investigation has pinned the actions of these three individuals for the accident on June 2 which involved three trains. The mishap has gone down as one of the deadliest accidents to have hit Indian Railways. 

The arrest came three days after the Commissioner of Railways Safety (CRS) presented its report to the Railway Ministry, highlighting faulty signalling as a result of two unsuccessful repair works—one in 2018 and another just hours before the accident. 

These repair works led to the Coromandel Express colliding with a goods train on a different track. The CRS report has stated that the tragic event could have been prevented if the recurring issues with the local signalling system had been addressed, which would have enabled the signalling and track staff to identify the mistake made in 2018, a Hindustan Times said.

The CBI investigation aims to determine if there was any attempt, abetment, or conspiracy behind the incident.