In a disturbing development, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), which is probing the Balasore train ‘accident’ that claimed the lives of 292 people and left 1208 injured recently, has reportedly sealed the house of a signal JE (Junior Engineer) Amir Khan working under the Soro section.
As per reports, the CBI team had earlier questioned Amir Khan at an undisclosed location. The CBI team left Balasore on June 16 after conducting their investigation, but when they returned again on Monday, Khan and his family had gone missing. Subsequently, CBI sealed Khan’s rented house.
As per a Swarajya report, “A Signal Junior Engineer plays a crucial role in ensuring the safety of train operations by installing, maintaining, and repairing signaling equipment such as signals, track circuits, point machines, and interlocking systems”.
Initial investigations into the triple train accident had indicated that the electronic interlocking system had likely been tampered, causing the passenger train to be diverted from the main line to the loop line, where it crashed into a stationary goods train. The CBI took over the investigation into the matter on 6 June, after filing a First Information Report (FIR) in the case.
Upon commencing its investigation, the CBI sealed the Bahanaga Bazar station and confiscated the log book, relay panel, and other equipment. The relay interlocking panel was also sealed, resulting in the signaling system being inaccessible to employees. The Bahanaga Bazar station will not be receiving any passenger or goods trains until further notice.
The Central agency is reportedly investigating the involvement of 5 railway employees, including the assistant station master SB Mohanty at Bahanaga Bazar, in the Balasore train tragedy.
While full facts on the Balasore train tragedy will only emerge after a thorough investigation, it is pertinent to note that multiple incidents of railway tracks being sabotaged have been reported in last few years, clearly showing that this has now become one of the favorite tool of anti-national elements like Islamists and Maoists.
Earlier, Tamil Nadu Police had arrested lawyer Senthil Kumar for putting out a tweet stating that the ‘station master at Bahanaga Bazaar Station, Mohammed Sheriff Ahmed, had gone underground after the accident’. It was found that no one with the name Mohammed Sheriff Ahmed was working at the railway station. The lawyer was arrested following a complaint by a DMK member.
While the news of Senthil Kumar’s arrest was covered widely in Tamil media, the news about JE Amir Khan’s house being sealed is not getting the same attention, and the outlets reporting it are mostly withholding the JE’s name.
