Railways makes familiar noise,seeks CBI probe into Sainthia

Implying a larger conspiracy behind the July 19 train collision at Sainthia in West Bengal that killed 66 people,the Railway Ministry...

Implying a larger conspiracy behind the July 19 train collision at Sainthia in West Bengal that killed 66 people,the Railway Ministry now wants the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) to investigate what caused the accident in which a speeding Uttarbanga Express had crashed into the rear of Vananchal Express at the Sainthia railway station.

This,when the statutory inquiry report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS),Eastern Circle,is yet to come out.

As per top government sources,the Railway Ministry,through Railway Board chairman Vivek Sahai,has sent a communication to the Union Home Secretary,seeking a CBI probe into the collision. The Rail Bhavan,sources say,has argued that the mystery surrounding the accident indicates a much larger conspiracy and needs to be probed by the central agency. The fact that the accident has happened in her home state West Bengal is apparently another reason why Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee is keen on a central probe.

It is not the first time that the Railways has demanded a CBI probe into a railway accident,which prima facie appears to have occurred because of the railway failure. Last year,the CBI had turned down two similar recommendations made by Banerjee,seeking CBI inquiries into the October 21,2009 train collision in Mathura and the death of an Assistant Executive Engineer in Jhalawar.

This time around,the Railways hopes that the many unanswered questions in the Sainthia collision and the mystery surrounding the sequence of events would strengthen its plea to seek a CBI probe. But officials in the ministry are quick to point out that the Railways could have waited till the CRS inquiry report came out. The CBI is currently probing the May 28 derailment of the Jnaneswari Express that killed 148 people. But in that case,there was a clear indication that Maoists were involved in that strike. Hence,a CBI probe was logical, an official argued.

Meanwhile,in another significant development,the Standing Committee on Railways,headed by the DMKs T R Baalu,has summoned the top brass of the Railway Ministry and the Konkan Railways Corporation Ltd (KRCL) for a meeting to discuss the ministrys failure to implement the Anti-Collision Device (ACD) across the Indian Railways network. The full Railway Board,including the chairman and all members,have been asked to attend this meeting. The spate of accidents,particularly collisions,is a worrisome development and there is a need to discuss threadbare all the aspects relating to the implementation of the ACD, a source said. The meeting has been fixed for August 3.