New Delhi: The Railways has denied that any of its staffers were missing amid reports that a junior engineer – Amir Khan – who was allegedly under scrutiny by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) in relation to the triple train accident in Odisha, was now absconding.
“There are some media reports that one of the staff is missing/absconding. However, it is to be clarified that all the staff are part of CBI and CRS [Commission of Railway Safety] inquiry. None of the staff are missing/absconding,” the Railways said in a statement Tuesday.
Even as the name Amir Khan, along with the Balasore train accident, was trending on Twitter, the Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO), South Eastern Railway (SER), issued a video clarification reiterating that no staff employed at Bahanaga Bazar railway station was missing or absconding. “These reports are factually incorrect. All staff is present…wherever the CBI or CRS teams call them, they go,” CRPO A.K. Chaudhary said in the video.
At least 288 people lost their lives in the 2 June accident near Bahanaga Bazar railway station in Odisha’s Balasore district involving a goods train, the Coromandel Express, and the Yesvantpur-Howrah Superfast Express.
While an inquiry into the exact cause is being conducted by the CBI as well as the Commission of Railway Safety, the government has identified “interference” in the signalling system as the root cause of the accident.
This is also not the first time a rumour related to a missing Railways staffer made the rounds on social media. About two weeks ago, some on social media had reportedly claimed that the station master of the Bahanaga Bazar railway station — a man they identified as one Sharif — was absconding since the accident. However, it later turned out that there was no station master by that name at the Bahanaga Bazar railway station.
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)