3 charged with culpable homicide, evidence destruction over Balasore

NEW DELHI: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on Saturday chargesheeted three employees of the Indian Railways for their role in the Balasore train tragedy, even as the probe agency left open the possibility of "a larger conspiracy" that led to the accident.

- Neeraj Chauhan

The accident, one of India's worst-ever rail tragedies, killed 296 people and injured over 1,100 in Odisha's Balasore district on June 2.

In the charge sheet - filed before the special judicial magistrate of Bhubaneswar - CBI charged the three men under sections 304 (2) (culpable homicide not amounting to murder), 34 (common intention) and 201 (destruction of evidence) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC), as well as Section 153 (endangering safety of persons travelling by railways by willful act or omission) of the Railways Act.

"Further investigations have been kept open on the aspects of larger conspiracy and over the possible involvement of others," a CBI spokesperson said in a statement.

The agency on July 7 arrested senior section engineer (signals) Arun Kumar Mahanta, section engineer Mohammad Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar and said "their actions" led to the accident.