Bhubaneswar: The three accused in the triple-train accident near Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore district were sent to judicial custody after the end of the second phase of their CBI remand today.
The three accused the then Senior Section Engineer (Signal), Balasore Arun Kumar Mohanta; the then Senior Section Engineer (Signal), Soro Mohammad Amir Khan; and the then Technician, Balasore Pappu Kumar were produced before the Special CBI Court here on completion of their second phase four-day remand.
Since the CBI did not seek to take them on further remand, the
Special CBI Court here remanded them to judicial custody while fixing July 27 as the next date for hearing in the matter. They were sent to Special Jail here at Jharpada.
The Special CBI Court here had on July 7 initially granted the CBI to take the accused persons on 5-day remand and again on July 11, the court on the investigating agency’s plea had extended the remand by 4 more days.
On July 7, the CBI arrested Mohanta, Khan and Kumar under sections 304 and 201 of the IPC and Section 153 of Railways Act, 1989 in the ongoing investigation of the case pertaining to the train mishap near Bahanaga Bazar Railway Station, in Balasore district on June 2.
The triple train collision involved the 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, a goods train and the 12864 Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express.
The 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express entered the up-loop line near the Bahanaga Bazar railway station where a goods train was already stationed. The collision led to the derailment of 12841 Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express which knocked off the last few coaches of the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express on another track.
As many as 288 people were killed and more than 1,000 were injured in the accident, one of the deadliest in the history of Indian Railways.
The investigation into the accident was initially handed over to the Commissioner of Rail Safety (CRS) and then to the CBI. AM Chowdhary, Commissioner of Railway Safety, South Eastern Circle, was given charge of the inquiry.
The CRS recently submitted its report to the Railway Board. The report reportedly pointed out to lapses at multiple levels in the S&T (Signal & Telecommunication) Department and held it responsible for the accident.
The total death toll in the tragedy so far stands at 293.
