Train tragedy: FIR in Balasore accident alleges criminal negligence

CBI all set to take over probe; loco pilots depose before CRS

A first information report (FIR) has been lodged with the Odisha Police in connection with the Balasore accident case, in which suspected interference with the interlocking system led to a three-train crash that killed 275 people and injured over 1,000.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) is also likely to have taken over the investigation after the Railway Board made a recommendation in this regard on Sunday evening. Simultaneously, the independent probe by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), an authority under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, started on Monday.

According to reports, the CBI will dispatch a team to the site of the accident on Tuesday to begin its investigation.

Earlier, Papu Kumar Naik, a 38-year-old resident of Balasore, lodged a complaint with the Odisha Police, alleging criminal negligence by railway officials which caused the accident. Along with the relevant sections of the Indian Penal Code, unknown persons would also be investigated for offences under Sections 153, 154, and 175 of the Railway Act.

“At present, culpability of specific railway employees not ascertained, which will be unearthed during the investigation,” a summarised digital version of the plain paper FIR said.

“The unfortunate event took place due to negligence of railways causing heavy loss of human lives and property,” Naik’s complaint read.

On the first day of the independent investigation by the CRS, several stakeholders, including the severely injured loco pilot of the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel, gave statements, according to local reports. The Latest information from officials suggests that all officials responsible have been identified in the preliminary probe and no officer is absconding.

Regular train movement began late on Sunday night, roughly 51 hours after the accident in which the Coromandel Express collided with a goods train on the adjacent track near Bahanaga Bazaar station in Balasore.

“The impact was such that 21 coaches of the train derailed and three coaches infringed on the other track,” the official report of the incident said.

At the same time, the Howrah-Bengaluru express train was passing through from the opposite direction and the three derailed coaches infringing on the other track rammed into the passing train, taking two of its coaches out. A fourth goods train, stabled at the loop line on the other side, was also impacted.

“It is being suspected that there was some interference with the system. Whether it was physical interference or something else will be found in the CRS probe,” Railway Board Member Jaya Varma Sinha had said on Sunday. Experts also suspect interference with the interlocking system by officials at the station, in an act of incompetence and negligence.