The Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train were involved in the June 2 train accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station.
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday filed a chargesheet against three railway employees in connection with the June 2 train accident involving Coromandel Express and two other trains in Odisha’s Balasore district in which 293 people lost their lives.
The Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train were involved in the accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station.
According to the CBI, they filed the chargesheet against senior section engineer in-charge (signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, senior section engineer (signal) Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar Yadav. “They have been charged under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 201 (causing disappearance of evidence of an offence or giving false information to screen offender) and Section 153 of Railways Act (endangering the safety of persons travelling by railway by wilful act or omission,” an official said.
A CBI official said they have found sufficient evidence to substantiate the charges against the three.
The central agency had earlier registered an FIR under IPC sections 304A (criminal negligence resulting in death), 337 (endangering life by negligent act), 338 (causing grievous hurt), and 34 (common intention), and sections 153 (unlawful and negligent action endangering lives of passengers), 154 and 175 (endangering lives) of the Railways Act, based on an initial FIR registered by the Government Railway Police at Balasore police station.
The CBI later invoked Section 304, the punishment under which is up to 10 years, after it found evidence against the three. The maximum punishment under 304A is two years.
During the investigation, the CBI visited the accident site along with the forensic experts for examination. “They also checked the panel room of the station, which displayed the signalling system, and later spoke to officials in the record room,” the source said. The CBI officers also collected documents and physical and digital logs from the railway.
A parallel investigation conducted by the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) held “multiple levels” of staff at the Signalling Department responsible for the accident.
According to the CRS report, the three signalling staff who were arrested earlier, were at the Bahanaga Bazar railway station on the day of the accident, carrying out the replacement of an Electric Lifting Barrier (boom barrier) at level crossing no 94. The CRS report said faulty labelling of wires at the location box caused a signalling error that led to the Coromandel Express entering a loop line before ramming into a stationary goods train.
On that day, Mahanta was supervising the team carrying out the replacement work at the level crossing while Khan was leading the team of technicians involved in the job. Technician Yadav was part of the team carrying out the job on the ground, involving rewiring the location box at the level crossing.
At the level crossing, Yadav, in the presence of Mahanta and Khan, discovered the wiring mistake. “Then he (Yadav) noticed that, on the cable side, no cable core was connected; instead, 16 strand flexible wires were connected. He found that these wires, not visible from the front side, were drawn from the back side of the rack, and traced the other ends of the flexible wires which were left disconnected from terminals F23 & F24 during the barrier wiring work,” The CRS report said.
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