Odisha train accident: Railway police filed an FIR against unknown persons, CBI to take over the investigation

• Image Credit: Google

• Jun 5, 2023 | Dhupali Das

The Government Railway Police (GRP) has filed an FIR in Cuttack (Odisha) against unknown people involved...

Digital Desk: The Government Railway Police (GRP) has filed an FIR in Cuttack (Odisha) against unknown people involved in the Balasore train accident. The FIR was filed under sections 153, 154, and 175 of the Railway Act in response to a complaint filed by SI Papu Kumar Naik of Balasore GRPS.

Meanwhile, the CBI is gearing up to take over the investigation into the incident that killed at least 275 people and injured 1,100, officials said. According to the standard, the central agency would take over the Balasore GRP case number 64 registered by Odisha Police on June 3, a day after the accident in Odisha involving two passenger trains and a goods train.

The case was filed under IPC sections 337, 338, 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention), as well as sections 153 (unlawful and negligent action endangering the lives of Railway passengers), 154, and 175 (endangering lives) of the Railway Act. It is expected that it will be assigned to the Special Crime Unit at the Delhi Headquarters.

According to the procedure, the CBI re-registers the local police FIR as its own case and begins the investigation. It can add or remove charges from the FIR in its charge sheet, which is filed once the probe is completed.

"We have recommended a CBI probe into the triple train accident that claimed 275 lives and injured over 1,000," Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw told reporters on Sunday evening in Bhubaneswar.

Railway officials have suggested that the Friday disaster was caused by probable "sabotage" and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains.

The crash involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, which were carrying over 2,500 passengers, and a goods train carrying iron ore near the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, about 250 kilometres south of Kolkata and 170 kilometres north of Bhubaneswar. In the accident, as many as 21 carriages were derailed and seriously damaged, trapping hundreds of passengers.