The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Tuesday, 6 June, registered a case on request of Ministry of Railways, consent of Odisha Government and further orders from Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT) relating to train accident that took the lives of nearly 288 people in Odisha's Balasore on Friday, 2 June.
A CBI team reached Balasore on Tuesday and took over the investigation of the case earlier registered at Balasore Government Railway Police Station (GRPS).
Earlier, the Government Railway Police (GRP) filed a First Information Report (FIR) against unknown persons in connection with the triple-train disaster.
The FIR was filed under Sections 337/338 (endangering life or personal safety of others), 304A (causing death by negligence) and 34 (common intention) of the Indian Penal Code and Section 153/154/175 (endangering safety) of the Railway Act.
The FIR was filed on Saturday, 3 June, a day after the accident, on the complaint of Balasore GRP station Sub-Inspector Papu Kumar Naik.
The document states that culpability of railway employees has not yet been ascertained and will be probed.
Meanwhile, Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw said on Sunday, 4 June that a change in electronic interlocking may have caused the horrific train accident in Odisha.
"The commissioner of railway safety has investigated the matter and let the investigation report come but we have identified the cause of the incident and the people responsible for it... It happened due to a change in electronic interlocking," Vaishnaw told news agency ANI.
He added that "whoever did it and how it happened will come out during the detailed investigation."
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