Balasore accident: CBI arrests 3 railway officials, says their actions led to train crash

The CBI on Friday arrested three railway personnel in connection with the June 2 Balasore train accident, making its first arrests in the case, officials said.

The agency arrested Senior Section Engineer (signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, Section Engineer Mohammed Amir Khan and Technician Pappu Kumar, all posted in Balasore district, the officials told PTI

The three have been arrested under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence), they said.

The accident took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in the Balasore district of Odisha in which 293 people were killed — 287 on the spot or brought dead to the hospital while six succumbed to injuries in hospitals.

At least 293 people killed while many were gravely injured in the crash. The train crash, one of the deadliest in the country, took place in the Balasore district about 250 km south of Kolkata and 170 km north of Bhubaneswar, prompting the Railway Ministry to order a probe.

According to the preliminary enquiry conducted by Kharagpur railway division officials, the accident was a result of ‘signalling failure.

The Coromandel Express train allegedly entered the loop line and crashed into a goods train parked there instead of the main line just ahead of the Bahanagar Bazar station.

With inputs from PTI