CBI team visits Odisha train accident site at Bahanaga Bazar railway station

The CBI officials first checked the panel room of the station, which displays the signalling system. They later talked to station officials in the record room and inspected the railway station.

The CBI sleuths first checked the panel room of the station, which displayed the signalling system.

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A six-member Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) team Tuesday visited the Odisha train accident site at the Bahanaga Bazar railway station, accompanied by the railway police, near Balasore to conduct an inspection.

On Sunday, the Railway Board had recommended a CBI probe into the accident in which the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express, SMVT Bengaluru-Howrah Express, and a goods train collided near the Bahanaga Bazar station last Friday. A statutory inquiry by the Commission of Railway Safety (CRS) has also been ordered.

At the Bahanaga Bazar railway station, the CBI officials first checked the panel room that displays the signalling system. The Indian Railways had expressed suspicion that its signalling apparatus may have run into some error, causing the accident.

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The CBI officials talked to station officials in the record room and also inspected the Bahanaga Bazar railway station. Since morning, all railway station officials, including those in the signalling department, were present.

Also read | Quick fix for green signal to Coromandel likely cause of Odisha train accident

According to sources, CBI officials asked for documents, statements, and logs — digital and otherwise — before and after one of the worst railway accidents in the country, in which more than 270 people were killed and over 1,000 injured.

Meanwhile, another CBI team went to the Balasore railway station to collect documents and record statements of railway officials present there.

After announcing the CBI probe, the Railways called for a week-long countrywide safety drive on signalling systems with special emphasis on the existing “double locking” arrangement of its signalling apparatus at stations.

Ravik Bhattacharya

Ravik Bhattacharya is the Chief of Bureau of The Indian Express, Kolkata. Over 20 years of experience in the media industry and covered politics, crime, major incidents and issues, apart from investigative stories in West Bengal, Odisha, Assam and Andaman Nicobar islands. Ravik won the Ramnath Goenka Excellence in Journalism Award in 2007 for political reporting. Ravik holds a bachelor degree with English Hons from Scottish Church College under Calcutta University and a PG diploma in mass communication from Jadavpur University. Ravik started his career with The Asian Age and then moved to The Statesman, The Telegraph and Hindustan Times. ... Read More

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