Railway safety panel begins probe, records statements
DUSSEHRA TRAIN TRAGEDY Report to be submitted to civil aviation ministry
:The Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) SK Pathak on Sunday initiated a two-day probe into the Amritsar train tragedy which claimed lives of 61 people who were watching the ceremonial burning of the effigy of Ravana at Dhobi Ghat on October 19.
Amritsar MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla had held a meeting with the Union minister of railways and coal Piyush Goyal and handed over a letter requesting an inquiry in the incident by CRS last week.
The ministry of railways considered the request and ordered an inquiry.
The CFRS along with other senior officers of the Indian Railways, Government Railway Police (GRP) and Railway Protection Force (RPF) also visited the accident site.
After visiting the site, Pathak started taking statements of ‘all the concerned’ in the accident. The loco pilot Arvind Kumar of the diesel multiple unit (DMU) which mowed down the mob watching Dussehra also turned up before the CRS to record his statement.
Earlier, the loco pilot had recorded his statement before the special investigation team (SIT) formed by additional director general of police (ADGP, railways) Iqbal Singh Sahota.
Talking to the media, chief public relations officer (CPRO) of Northern Railways Deepak Kumar said, “The statements of all concerned people, including government officials and the loco pilot will be recorded during the two-day inquiry. Till now, five railway officials have recorded their statements.”
He said, “After probing the whole incident, the CRS will submit his report to the ministry of civil aviation.”
Meanwhile, the Congress MP Gurjit Singh Aujla also visited Amritsar railway station’s workshop where the probe is being conducted. Talking to media, Aujla said he had given his written demand for conducting free and fair probe into the accident.
He said, “In order to ascertain the facts in a right way, a mock trial of the accident must be performed by a fit and experienced engineer.”
He said, “The Amritsar-Howrah Mail crossed the accident point before the DMU which mowed down the mob. The time and speed of crossing by the DMU train must be studied.”
He said he has also demanded a background study of the driver’s mental and physical condition.
“Gatemen are supposed to inform the higher authorities or the drivers of the trains in such circumstances (in case of presence of people on railway lines). The team should also study if the gatemen on the nearest crossing informed the station control room, driver or the higher officials about the human presence on the rail lines.”
He said, “Pathak assured him that he will be considering all the points during the investigation.”