Officials from Indian Railways suspect that the tracks near Kuneru station was tampered with, leading to the derailment of nine coaches of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Hirakhand Express on Saturday night, PTI reported. At least 39 people have been killed in the mishap and 60 injured.
Suspecting foul play, railway sources told PTI that the tracks may have been tampered with, as the area is known to be “a Naxal-prone zone”. The driver of the Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar train had heard “a big cracker-like sound” just before the derailment took place, sources said, adding that there was a big crack on the tracks.
However, the Odisha Police on Sunday ruled out any involvement of Naxalites in the accident. Odisha DGP K B Singh said there has been no movement of the Naxalites in the area for the past five years. “Yes, the place was Naxal-hit about five years ago. But, now the area is totally free of such elements,” he said, according to PTI.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced Rs 5 lakh compensation for the family of the victims of the accident. Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu announced Rs 2 lakh compensation for the victims of the deceased, and Rs 50,000 to the seriously injured.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi called the incident “saddening” and wished a speedy recovery to all those injured. “My thoughts are with those who lost their loved ones due to derailment of Jagdalpur-Bhubaneswar Express,” he tweeted. Congress president Sonia Gandhi said she was concerned about the rising number of train accidents. Expressing condolences to the families of the deceased, Sonia Gandhi “hoped that Railways will undertake lasting measures to ensure railway safety is a priority,” a statement by the Congress read.
“The government must take steps to ramp up railway safety as an urgent priority,” Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi tweeted.
West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee also claimed that Indian Railways was being neglected and given less priority. “The Budget is being curtailed. Safety and security are being compromised. Sadly, today also many people lost their lives. My condolences to their loved ones,” she said in a series of tweets. Banerjee also said that the Railway minister is not the one to blame and that he “is earnest in his efforts”.
The derailment follows similar incidents across the country in the past few months, including the Ajmer-Sealdah Express and Patna-Indore Express trains. Investigating agencies are also probing the role of Pakistan’s Inter-Services Intelligence in the Patna-Indore Express derailment case.
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