BHUBANESWAR: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Wednesday collected the data logger of Bahanaga railway station where a horrific train mishap, one of India’s deadliest, claimed at least 288 lives on June 2.
A data logger considered the black box of railways, monitors and records all activities and events in the signalling system of a railway station. It helps find the mistakes committed by signal operators, loco pilots and malfunction of signalling systems.
The CBI team which began the investigation yesterday took possession of the data logger from Balasore GRP which had earlier registered a case in connection with the mishap. It is yet to be ascertained whether the CBI seized the data logger from the GRP or took a copy of it.
Sources said the GRP is yet to receive an official order that the investigation has been taken over by the CBI. Until that, the GRP cannot officially hand over all the records related to the case to the probe agency.
The CBI officers along with technical and forensic experts visited the accident site to examine the up main/loop lines. They also inspected the panel room. Sources said the central agency’s officers have also seized the mobile phones of the station manager and a few other staff who were on duty on the fateful night.
On June 2, an initial investigation suggests, the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express entered the loop line, instead of the main line, and crashed into a goods train already parked there. The signal was given for the up main line for Coromandel but the train entered the loop line and rammed into the goods train.
The loco pilot of Coromandel, undergoing treatment at a hospital in Bhubaneswar, has maintained that he had received a green signal to proceed on the up line.