Balasore train accident: CBI arrests three railway officials

The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has made its first arrests in connection with the June 2 Balasore train accident.

The agency arrested senior section engineer (signal) Arun Kumar Mahanta, section engineer Mohammed Amir Khan and technician Pappu Kumar, all posted in Balasore district, the officials said.

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All three were taken into custody by the CBI.

The three were arrested under IPC sections 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder) and 201 (destruction of evidence), they said.

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The accident took place near the Bahanaga Bazar station in the Balasore district of Odisha in which 293 people were killed — 287 on the spot or brought dead to hospital while six succumbed to injuries in hospitals.

The accident involved three trains: the Shalimar-Chennai Coromandel Express, Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express and a stationary goods train.

(With agency inputs)