The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has informed a special court that unapproved repair work conducted with knowledge of the consequences was carried out at a level crossing near the station in Odishas Balasore where a tragic triple-train accident occurred in June, resulting in the deaths of 296 people.The central agency made this revelation while opposing the bail plea of Senior Section Engineer (Signal In-charge) Arun Kumar Mahanta, one of three railway officials arrested in connection with the crash.The crash, which took place at the Bahanaga Bazar station in Balasore, Odisha, prompted investigations into the circumstances leading up to the disaster. Arun Kumar Mahanta, who was responsible for the signal system, had sought bail from the special CBI court in Bhubaneswar.The CBI disclosed that Mahanta conducted repair work at level crossing gate number 94 near the station without the necessary approvals and without an approved circuit diagram. The agency further revealed that Mahanta used the circuit diagram of another level crossing gate, number 79, during the wiring work.“The typical circuit diagram of another level crossing gate No.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 No.94 from 110-volt AC to 24-volt DC,” the agency said.The agency said that Mahanta was directly overseeing the work at the level crossing gate and that these actions were undertaken with the knowledge of the consequences.Superiors failed to take active action: Balasore tragedy accused in bail hearingIn response, Mahantas legal counsel argued that the gate in question had been malfunctioning for some time, but his superiors had failed to take active action. The counsel also said that the supervision of the work had been entrusted to some other persons, absolving Mahanta of direct responsibility for the accident.However, the court denied bail to Mahanta, highlighting his responsibility as a Senior Section Engineer. The court noted, “As per the manual, the accused-petitioner was to ensure that testing, overhauling and carrying out alterations to the existing signal and interlocking installations was 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. From the material available on record, it prima facie shows the complicity of the present accused-petitioner for commission of the said offences,” the court added.The June 2 Balasore train tragedy involved the Kolkata-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, and a goods train, marking one of Indias most devastating rail disasters in the last two decades.
