Signs of 'deliberate interference' in electronic interlocking system led to CBI probe recommendation
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Jun, 2023 09:53 AM
New Delhi, June 5 (IANS) Under fire from the Opposition, including the Congress, for recommending a CBI probe into the Balasore train accident that led to the death of 275 passengers, government sources on Monday indicated that it was a case of "deliberate interference" in the system that came to the fore during the preliminary investigation, thus necessitating an investigation by a professional agency.
Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw had on Sunday said that the Railway Board has recommended a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into Friday's horrifying accident which left 275 people dead and over 800 injured.
He also said that the accident happened due to a change in electronic interlocking.
A government source on Monday here said that the need for a CBI probe even when the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) was already probing the incident, as the officials who were part of the preliminary investigation indicated the need for a more thorough investigation by a professional agency having expertise.
"Lots of information has come during the course of the investigation. Various kinds of information has been made available which required a professional investigative agency," the source said.
The accident in which a speeding Coromandel Express crashed into a stationary goods train on the loop line instead of travelling on the main line, indicated issues with the electronic interlocking system which changed the route of the train leading to the collision.
The source said, "Unless there is deliberate interference in the system, it is impossible that a route set for the main line is switched to the loop line."
The ministry had earlier ruled out driver error or a malfunction in the interlocking system, and said that all angles are being probed extensively to come to the exact conclusion how this happened.
The Congress has been demanding the resignation of Vaishnaw for the horrific train accident near Odisha's Bahanaga Bazar station, where 21 coaches of Chennai-bound Coromandel Express and Howrah-bound SMVP-Howrah Superfast Express derailed and led to death of 275 people and leaving over 800 injured.
A SAD delegation led by its president Sukhbir Singh Badal met Punjab Governor Banwarilal Purohit and handed over a memorandum stating that the Chief Minister and the Excise Minister have violated the provisions of the Official Secrets Act by making official files of the state available to Delhi Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and MP Raghav Chadha, besides private persons.
The location of another plotter, Anmol Bishnoi, has also been traced to Kenya. The Bishnois had fled India before the daylight killing of Moosewala on May 29 in the Moosa village in Mansa district. It is believed that Sachin, a nephew of jailed gangster Lawrence Bishnoi, and Brar hatched the conspiracy to kill the famed Punjabi singer.
Sisodia's bank locker at a Ghaziabad bank was searched by the CBI on Tuesday morning. Manish Sisodia and his wife Seema Sisodia reached the bank along with the probe agency officials to examine the bank locker in connection with the alleged irregularities in the excise policy.
According to Goa Police, methamphetamine was given to Phogat and the drug has been seized from a washroom of the Curlies restaurant in Anjuna. So far, five persons have been arrested in this case, including her personnel assistant Sudhir Sangwan and his friend Sukhwinder Singh.
"We will soon stop buying arms and ammunition from other countries, as everything will be manufactured in India" said the Defence Minister Rajnath Singh.
A woman, who used to get false gang-rape FIRs lodged against people to extort money and had been running a sextortion gang, was arrested in Delhi's Dwarka area, police said on Monday. So far four such cases against various persons in Delhi and Haryana have surfaced.
