Bhubaneswar : The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has arrested three railway employees on Friday in connection with the rail accident that occurred on June 2 in Balasore, Odisha.
The three arrested individuals are being charged under IPC Section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder).
The central investigative agency had been conducting a probe into the possibility of criminal conspiracy in this rail accident. The three apprehended individuals are Senior Section Engineer Arunkumar Mahanto, Senior Section Engineer Mohammad Amir Khan, and Technical Papu Kumar.
According to the provisions of Section 304, the punishment for this offense includes life imprisonment and a fine or rigorous imprisonment. Their negligence is said to have contributed to the significant accident.
The incident took place at the Koraput Express Station in Balasore’s Bahanga Bazaar railway station at around 7 PM on June 2. The freight train collided with a stationary goods train.
The Bangalore-Hawda Superfast Express was also affected in this incident. It resulted in the death of 292 people and injured over a thousand. As a result, Bahanga Bazaar Station does not halt any trains, and around 170 trains pass through the station daily.
The CRS (Commissioner of Railway Safety) had previously raised concerns about the negligence of some land officials, who failed to follow the necessary safety procedures after making design changes three years ago due to security concerns.
The Odisha triple train accident was registered with the FIR at the GRP (Government Railway Police) station in Balasore. Following that, the Rail Minister requested a CBI investigation. Upon receiving the central government’s approval, the CBI took over the case for investigation.