Hirakhand Express mishap: Rusted track or sabotage?

Investigations are on to find out the reason behind the Hirakhand Express accident on Sunday.

New Delhi, Jan 23: Following the derailment of the Hirakhand Express at Andhra Pradesh on Saturday which claimed 39 lives, the railways claimed that it could have been a case of sabotage. Preliminary investigations showed that there was a breakage of the tongue rail near the Kuneru railway station which could have led to the accident.

A 15-inch gap in the rail line may have been the reason for the accident. Moreover, while joining the dots, the investigators are also looking into a 'Naxal angle' since the station is located in a Naxalite strong region.

However, according to Intelligence Bureau reports there has been no Naxal movement in the region for the past one year.Preliminary investigations show that a portion of the track had broken off. While some officials feel that the track may have been cut off, other say that there were cracks on it and the tracks had weakened as a result of which it had broken off.

Officials tell OneIndia that the chances of sabotage are low. "Even if someone had wanted to target the track he would not have done it so close to the signal cabin," says an official. The track was broken around 100 metres away from the Kuneru signal cabin.

East Coast Railway chief public relations officer JP Mishra said, "There are indications of foul play as a goods train passed the same track just two hours before the accident." An inspection by the patrol team also found the track to be fine on Saturday, Mishra said while adding that investigations are on.

OneIndia News