Odisha train tragedy: CBI arrests 3 railway officials

Bhubaneswar: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), probing Balasore train mishap in Odisha on June 2, today arrested three railway officials in connection with the mishap.

The arrested officials have been identified as Senior Section Engineer (signal) at Balasore Arun Kumar Mahanta, Senior Section Engineer (signal) at Soro Muhammad Amir Khan and Technician at Balasore Pappu Kumar, CBI sources said.

The three officials have been arrested under Sections 304 and 201 of the IPC and Section 153 of the Railways Act, they added.

The three arrested officials were brought to CBI regional office here and then taken to Capital Hospital for health checkup, sources said.

The CBI had earlier raided the rented house of Khan at Soro in Balasore district. The CBI team had also sealed Khan’s rented house and interrogated him in connection with the mishap.

The CBI had questioned Bahanaga Bazar stationmaster SP Mohanty in connection with the mishap.

Notably, as many as 294 passengers were killed and 1,200 others left injured in the mishap involving Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, a stationary goods train and Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore on June 2.

The CBI took over the investigation from Government Railway Police (GRP) soon after the Railway Board sent a recommendation in this regard to the Centre.

The CBI sleuths have visited the spot several times and sealed Bahanaga Bazar railway station as part of their investigation into the mishap.

The CBI officials have also seized the mobile phones of some railway employees. “The CBI officials seized the mobile phones to collect detailed information on the call records, WhatsApp calls and social media chats of some railway employees,” said a source.