Balasore Train Tragedy: CBI Finds Unapproved Repair Work At Bahanaga Station Level Crossing

In a further disclosure of the reasons behind the train accident at Balasore earlier this year, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has said that repair work at a level crossing near Bahanaga Bazar Railway Station was allegedly conducted without the approval of senior divisional signal and telecom engineer and without an approved circuit diagram.

This comes after the CBI was entrusted to probe the Balasore train accident to ascertain the criminal aspects of the case.

The premier investigating agency has made the submission before a special court in Bhubaneswar alleging that one of the reasons behind the accident was the repair work at level crossing (LC) gate number 94 near Bahanaga Bazar station done by senior section engineer (signal in-charge) Arun Kumar Mahanta using the circuit diagram of another LC gate number 79.

He had said that the supervision work in question was entrusted to some other people, hence he was not responsible for the accident.

The CBI had arrested Mahanta and two other railway officials on 7 July, 2023 in connection with its probe into the accident in which 296 people were killed and over 1,200 injured.

A special CBI court in Bhubaneswar recently rejected the bail application of Mahanta, noting that material submitted by the CBI prima facie shows his complicity in the case

"The typical circuit diagram of another LC gate number 79 was being used at the time of execution of wiring work being done at North Goomty of Bahanaga Bazar Railway Station, for changing the operation of level crossing gate number 94 from 110 volt AC to 24 volt DC," the CBI has submitted before the court.

It said as per the manual, the present accused petitioner was to ensure that testing, overhauling and carrying out alterations to the existing signal and interlocking installation were in accordance with the approved plan and instructions.

"Further, it reveals since no such steps were taken by the accused, it caused the accident and in the said accident more than 296 passengers were dead and many more passengers were seriously injured," the court noted citing the CBI submissions.