Odisha train tragedy: 3 Railways officials arrested; charged with culpable homicide & destruction of evidence

Arun Kumar Mahanta, senior section engineer, Mohammad Amir Khan, section engineer and technician Pappu Kumar were arrested on Friday by the CBI in connection with the Odisha train tragedy that killed over 290 people.

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Friday arrested three railways officials in connection with the horrific Odisha triple train crash in which over 290 passengers lost their lives. The arrested railways employees have been identified as Arun Kumar Mahanta, senior section engineer; Mohammad Amir Khan, section engineer; and technician Pappu Kumar.

The CBI said that the accused have been arrested under sections 304 and 201 of the Indian Penal Code for “their action which led to the incident,” without describing what they exactly did.

After a month-long inquiry, the CBI has added two strict sections to its case related to culpable homicide not amounting to murder and evidence destruction. In its first information report (FIR), which was a re-registration of the case brought by the Odisha police, submitted last month, the agency had not cited these portions.

The arrest happened a few days after the railway board received the report on the Wednesday tragedy in Balasore from the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS). The Coromandel Express collided with a goods train on a different track due to defective signalling caused by two botched maintenance works, one in 2018 and one hours before the disaster, according to the investigation.

“The rear-collision (of Coromandel Express) was due to the lapses in the signalling-circuit-alteration carried out… in the past and during the execution of the signalling work related to replacement of electric lifting barrier for level crossing gate number 94 at the station,” said the report, as quoted by Hindustan Times.

To prevent any "influence or interference" with the CBI's continuing investigation in the case, the Railways reportedly decided not make the CRS probe report on the Balasore triple train catastrophe public.