Why Railways suspects 'sabotage' in Odisha train accident and sought a CBI probe

The Railways has recommended a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation into the accident in Odisha's Balasore that claimed the lives of 275 people. Why does the Railways suspect there was some kind of tampering with the electronic interlocking system and what prompted it to seek a CBI probe?

There is an element of suspicion that the three-train accident in Odisha on Friday night was an act of "sabotage". 

By India Today News Desk: The Railways has sought a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the three-train accident on Friday night in Odisha's Balasore district. There is an element of suspicion that it was an act of "sabotage" that claimed the lives of 275 people and injured 1,100.

The Government Railway Police is responsible for policing stations and trains. But it isn't well-equipped to investigate such suspected "criminal acts". That is the reason why the government is going to get the accident probed by the premier investigating body, CBI.

Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw on Sunday said that the railway board has recommended a CBI probe into the horrific accident in Balasore.

'CRIMINALS' INVOLVED, SAYS VAISHNAW

The railway minister's remarks came hours after he claimed that the "root cause" of the accident and the "criminals" responsible for it have been identified.

"The setting of the point machine was changed. How and why it was done will be revealed in the probe report," said Vaishnaw.

"The root cause of the horrifying incident has been identified... I do not want to go into details. Let the report come out. I will just say that the root cause and the people responsible for the criminal act have been identified," he said.

Railway officials, news agency PTI reported, also indicated that possible "sabotage" and tampering with the electronic interlocking system, which detects the presence of trains, led to the Friday accident.

WHY QUESTIONS OF SABOTAGE?

But how did the Coromandel Express end up on a different track, the loop line, instead of the main line?

The Coromandel Express from Howrah to Chennai was passing along the main line.

A goods train was earlier moved to the loop line to make way for the Howrah-Chennai down Coromandel Express. The express train had to go straight on the main line, but it didn't.

The loop lines of the Indian Railways are constructed in a station area to accommodate more trains and for smoother operations. The loop lines are generally 750 metres in length to accommodate full-length goods train with multiple engines.

The Coromandel Express, instead of going straight, due to some issue with the interlocking system, headed to the loop line and hit the goods train parked there. The impact caused disastrous results.

As it crashed into the goods train, due to the impact, some coaches were thrown off onto the up line where the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express was running and crashed into the last two coaches of that train.

The electronic interlocking system of the Railways is a fail-safe system. In the rare event that the system fails, it is supposed to fail on the safer side. This means, the Express train should have got a red signal and not headed for the parked goods train.

This is the exact reason why experts are suspecting foul play and the Railways has recommended a CBI probe.

PM MODI WARNED OF STRICT ACTION

The Railway Board has virtually given a clean chit to the loco pilot of Coromandel Express, attributing the accident to a change in the interlocking system.

According to preliminary findings, the Coromandel Express was "not over-speeding" and received the signal to continue on the main line but entered the loop line for unexplained reasons.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on Saturday, the day after the accident, visited the crash site and said that the guilty would be punished.

"It's a serious incident, instructions have been issued for a probe from every angle.