Balasore train mishap: 3 accused Rly officials sent to CBI custody for 5 days

A CBI court on Friday granted five days’ remand to 3 arrested Railway employees, arrested in connection with the probe into the Blasore triple-train accident, for further interrogation. The CBI had demanded seven days’ remand of the trio for further investigation but the court granted only five days. Earlier, on Friday, the premier central investigating agency arrested senior section engineer Arun Kumar Mohanta, section engineer Mohammad Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar under sections 304 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code and Section 153 of the Railways Act, 1989. The Railway Board had recommended a CBI probe into the accident following which, on June 6, the agency took over the investigation. “The case was earlier registered at Balasore GRPS, District Cuttack (Odisha) vide GRPS Case No.64 dated June 3 regarding the said mishap,” an official statement by the CBI read. A CBI probe was instituted in the case in light of allegations that the electronic interlocking system of the Coromandel Express had been tampered with. The triple-train accident on June 2 involved the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express, the Howrah-bound Shalimar Express, and a goods train. The accident claimed the lives of 291 people and left over 1,000 passengers injured.