CBI probe into Balasore train accident just an attempt to grab headlines: Jairam Ramesh
New Delhi (IANS) | The Congress on Tuesday once again criticized the Central government for recommending a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) probe into the Balasore train accident in Odisha, terming it as nothing more than an attempt to stay in the limelight. Hitting out at the government, Congress general secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said the CBI probe has been announced even before the Commissioner of Railway Safety has submitted its report on the Balasore train accident. This is nothing but an attempt to stay in the limelight.
On November 20, 2016, the Indore-Patna Express derailed near Kanpur, he said, citing the government’s decision to hand over the probe into the Patna-Indore Express train accident, in which 150 people were killed, to the National Investigation Agency (NIA). More than 150 people lost their lives. On January 23, 2017, the then Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu wrote a letter to the Union Home Minister demanding an NIA probe into the accident. On February 24, 2017, Prime Minister (Narendra Modi) in Kanpur says train accident is a conspiracy. On October 21, 2018, newspapers reported that the NIA would not file a charge sheet in the train derailment case. Till date there is no official news on the final report of NIA.
Significantly, the government is under fire from the opposition, including the Congress, for recommending a CBI probe into the Balasore train accident that killed 275 passengers.
On Monday, government sources indicated that from the preliminary probe it appears to be a case of deliberate interference in the system, hence a probe by a professional agency like the CBI is required.
Speaking to the media on Sunday, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav said that the Railway Board has recommended a CBI inquiry into Friday’s horrific accident.
Vaishnav also said that the accident occurred due to a change in the electronic interlocking.
A lot of information has come to the fore during the probe, the source said. Various types of information have been made available, for this a professional investigative agency is needed.
Unless there is a deliberate interference in the system, it is impossible to convert the route earmarked for the main line into a loop line, the source said.
The Congress is demanding Vaishnav’s resignation for the horrific train accident near Bahanaga Bazar station in Odisha.
–IANS
