5 hours Ago By A Selvaraj
CHENNAI: An official inquiry into the Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express accident has indicated sabotage , confirming that nuts and bolts were removed from the track, causing the train to veer off the main track on to the loop line and ram into a stationary goods train at Kavaraipettairailway station on Oct 11. Twelve coaches were derailed and 20 people injured in the accident. On Thursday, 15 railway personnel, including the trackman, loco pilot of the train and Kavaraipettai station master appeared before the Commissioner for Rail Safety A M Chowdhary.
Nuts and bolts They ruled out technical fault and confirmed that the nuts and bolts on the track were unfastened. However, the report was kept confidential. GRP assistant commissioner Karnan told TOI that the trackman had confirmed that six bolts and nuts were removed.
Karnan told the police that it would take at least 30 minutes for an experienced person to do this; with a handheld power gadget, it would take 15 to 20 minutes. “The trackman was on duty from7am to 5 pm on Oct 11, and he found no suspicious activity on the tracks during that time. After that, there was no other person assigned to check the tracks,” he added.
The sabotage is believed to have been carried out just before an EMU train passed through at 8.26pm. With the nuts and bolts removed, the track loosened further with the passage of the EMU train.
As a result, the Bagmati Express, which arrived 12 minutes later, moved to the loop line — a track that branches out from the main route and merges with it again after a short distance. Loco pilot 'clueless' “The loco pilot of Bagmati Express confirmed that he saw the green signal. However, he was clueless about how the train moved to the loop line.
Kavaraipettai station master Muni Prasad Babu also said he signalled green for the express train to pass through the main line,” said an investigating officer. GRP officers said that a similar sabotage attempt was foiled at Ponneri Railway station on July 16 by a trackman during routine inspection. Similar sabotage attempt foiled in July GRP officers said a similar sabotage attempt was foiled at Ponneri Railway station on July 16 by atrackman during a routine inspection.
“He discovered that the bolt and nuts connecting the main line to the loop line were unfastened. Immediately, he reported to senior railway officials, and the matter was set right,” said a police officer. There were no CCTV cameras at railway stations between Ko rukkupet and Sulurpet until after the July 16 incident when they were installed at Ponneri, said an official.
On Thursday, 15 railway officials, including trackman, loco pilot and station master appeared before Commissioner for Rail Safety A M Chowdhary. They ruled out technical fault and confirmed that the nuts and bolts on the track were unfastened. However, the report was kept confidential, and officials refused to divulge the details.
