Railways trying to cover up own inefficiency: Ex-CBI interim director M Nageswara Rao on Odisha train mishap

BHUBANESWAR: As the CBI on Tuesday started its probe into the Balasore train tragedy that left 288 passengers dead and over 1,000 injured, the elite agency’s former interim director M Nageswara Rao, who also served as the ADG (railway police) in Odisha, said the railways is trying to cover up its own inefficiency by suspecting the train accident to be a sabotage.
“My experience as SP of two railway police districts and as additional DGP of railway Police in Odisha, indicates that it has been the standard tactic of railway officials to allege sabotage to divert public attention and to cover up their deficiencies, inefficiencies and ineptitude. And by the time the investigation report is out the public would have forgotten the incident,” Rao, a retired IPS officer of Odisha cadre, tweeted as well as told TOI over phone from Hyderabad.
Asked about the CBI probe, Rao said the railways referred the case to the CBI too early. “The railways should have waited for some days till the inquiry by the commissioner of railway safety that started only a day ago (Monday) is over. Then they could have thought of moving to any police agency,” Rao said.
The railways refuted Rao’s allegations. “Attributing train accidents to the inefficiency of the railways is baseless. Separate investigations by the commissioner of railway safety and the CBI are in progress. Truth will come out. The CBI team has started collecting evidence and carrying out the probe. The railways is assisting them. All angles will be probed by the CBI,” said Aditya Kumar Chaudhary, chief public relations officer of South Eastern Railway.
Virtually ruling out driver error and system malfunction, indicating a possible tampering of the electronic interlocking system behind the triple train accident that occurred on June 2, the railways on Sunday (June 4) recommended CBI probe. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw earlier said the “root cause” of the accident and the “criminals” responsible for it have been identified.