Odisha Train Crash Caused by Signalling Mix-up, Keeping Seniors in the Dark, Says CBI

The CBI has concluded that signalling faults, deliberately kept under wraps, was responsible for the triple train crash in Odisha’s Balasore that claimed 291 lives. The central agency has chargesheeted three railway employees in the accident involving the Coromandel Express, a goods train and Howrah-Yesvantpur Express in July.

“Based on evidence… during the investigation into the case, commission of offences under sections 304 (Part II) of the IPC (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 201/34 (causing disappearance of evidence of offence with common intention) and Section 153 of the Railways Act (endangering safety of persons travelling by railways by wilful act or omission) were made out against the accused. Accordingly, a chargesheet has been filed against them,” said the public relations officer of the CBI.

Officials told News18 that the accused – senior section engineer Arun Kumar Mahanta, section engineer Mohammed Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar – were aware of the mix-up with the signalling wires and did not inform their superiors. They were chargesheeted for the lapse and an alleged attempt to cover it up.

Here’s what the CBI probe found:

1. The probe found that the work being done at a level crossing was not approved by seniors.
2. No supervisory officer was present at the spot where repair work was being done
3. Signalling diagrams, which showed how the wires were mixed up, were not communicated to a higher level.

According to the CBI, the probe found that repair work at the level crossing gate number 94 (near Bahanaga Bazar station) was not an approved plan and, instead, a circuit diagram of the level crossing at gate number 79 was used.

“This was a huge lapse in the way the signalling wires were mixed up and senior officers were not kept in the loop,” a CBI official said, adding that the standard operating procedure was to ensure that testing, overhauling and alterations to the existing signal as well as interlocking installations were done as per an approved plan and proper instructions.

“It was a wiring mix-up that led to the train being diverted to the loop line and the subsequent accident,” the officer said.