Odisha Train Accident: 7 Railway Employees Suspended

Bhubaneswar: Seven railway employees, including the three arrested by the Centreal Bureau of Investigation (CBI), have been suspended in connection with the triple train crash at Bahanaga in Odisha’s Balasore district that claimed the lives of 294 people.

All seven employees have been placed under suspension with immediate effect, South-Eastern Railway (SER) General Manager Anil Kumar Mishra said on Wednesday.

This was revealed after the South-Eastern Railway General Manager and DRM visited Bahanaga Bazar and Balasore railway stations. The senior Railway officials also visited Gopinathpur railway station with BJP MP Pratap Sarangi.

It may be noted here that the CBI has arrested three Railway officials – senior Section engineer (signal) Arun Kumar Mohanta, section engineer Mohammad Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar. They have been charged under Sections 304 and 201 of CrPC.

The three have been taken on another four-day remand by the CBI, which has found the three Railway officials responsible for causing the accident. Besides, they attempted to hide the evidence, the reports said.

The inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS), South Eastern Circle had stated that the deadly train mishap at Bahanaga Station occurred due to lapses in the signaling circuit alteration carried out at the North Signal Goomty (of the station) in the past.

It may be noted that as many as 294 people were killed and around 1,200 others injured in one of the worst train accidents in the country. Two superfast trains – Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express and Bengaluru-Howrah Express – and a goods train were involved in a rare collision on the night of June 2.