BHUBANESWAR/NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday began its probe into the Bahanaga railway accident, one of the deadliest train crashes in the country that claimed 288 lives and left more than 1,100 passengers injured on June 2.
A team of about eight CBI officers visited the accident site at Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Balasore district. It reportedly questioned a signalman and held discussions with Balasore GRP officers. The CBI officers collected information related to the mishap and shifting of dead bodies. The team spent more than an hour at the site.
Sources pointed out that none of the railway staff on duty on the fateful evening are on the run and all will cooperate with the CBI.
Earlier in the day, the Special Crime Unit-I of the premier agency formally booked a case of criminal negligence based on the FIR registered by the Government Railway Police (GRP). The GRP had not named any railway employee and said persons responsible for the accident would be identified during the course of the investigation.
The IPC charges filed by the CBI in the FIR include causing hurt by an act endangering life (Section 337 IPC), causing grievous hurt through rash or negligent acts endangering human life (Section 338), causing death by negligence (Section 304A), acts done by several persons in furtherance of common intention (Section 34), along with relevant sections of the Railways Act for endangering the lives of passengers through willful acts or omission (Section 153), rash or negligent acts (Section 154), and endangering the lives of government servants and the public (Section 175).
Sources said the CBI team will examine all angles including negligence on the part of railway staff, mechanical error, and conspiracy. It may meet DGP Sunil Kumar Bansal on Wednesday.
This is not the first time that CBI has been tasked to investigate a rail accident. In 2010, the Centre ordered a CBI probe into the derailment of the Jnaneswari Express, which claimed 148 lives. The CBI had filed chargesheets against 23 persons for damaging tracks by removing pandrol clips. This led to the derailment.