Bhubaneswar: In a major development into the tragic train mishap in Odisha’s Bahanaga, the Railways have reportedly suspended seven employees including the three arrested staff.
South Eastern Railway GM Anil Kumar Mishra informed that departmental action has been taken against seven employees of the Railway and they have been suspended due to negligence in duties.
The role of Station Master, Traffic Inspector and Maintainer has been established in in connection with the triple train accident at Bahanaga Bazaar Station in Balasore. The mishap could have been avoided if the employees would have been alert at that time, the SER GM further said.
Earlier, Senior Section Engineer (signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, Section Engineer Mohammed Amir Khan, and Technician Pappu Kumar were arrested and were grilled by the CBI. The Court has allowed the CBI to take the trio on remand for five more days.
The crash on June 2 involving two passenger trains and a goods train killed more than 290 people and injured more than 1,100. The accident involved three trains: the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train.
A high-level investigation by the Commission of Rail Safety (CRS) revealed that the lack of vigilance by several staff members and lapses by signalling and telecommunications departments at multiple levels caused the accident.
