Can’t blame Railways for trespass, says probe officer

Neeraj Bagga

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, November 4

Commissioner of Railway Safety, Northern Circle, SK Pathak began a two-day statutory inquiry into the Amritsar train tragedy on Sunday. He stated that the Railways, prima facie, was not responsible for trespass (by local residents) as there was a boundary wall 16.5 metres from the rail track.

In a mock run, he boarded the DMU (diesel multiple unit) from Manawala railway station to the Amritsar station. The train passed the accident site at the same time as it had done on Dasehra day (October 19).

He said the DMU had reached the accident site seconds after the Amritsar-Howrah Mail, which had repeatedly whistled. Pathak said applying the emergency brake when the DMU was running at a speed of 92 km per hour would have caused the bogies to crash into one other.

He said about 20 persons, mostly officials, were questioned on Sunday, adding that the Punjab Chief Secretary, Deputy Commissioner KS Sangha and Punjab Police officers had been intimated about the probe. He added that a civilian, Satyendra Kumar, had come forward to get his statement recorded.

Pathak said the preliminary report would be submitted within 30 days and the final report in six months.

Earlier, he visited Joda Phatak and held a session at the Northern Railway mechanical workshop. Local MP Gurjeet Singh Aujla met Pathak at the workshop. Aujla demanded that the DMU speedometer be checked for suspected tampering.

MP raises questions

Amritsar MP Gurjeet Aujla has asked the Railways to answer these questions

• The Howrah Mail crossed the mishap site before the DMU on October 19. Did the driver of Howrah alert his DMU counterpart about the presence of a large number of people on the railway tracks? 
• Why did the gateman of the nearest level crossing not inform train drivers or the higher officials about the Dasehra event? 
• Did the civil division perform necessary patrolling on rail lines?
• It is learnt that DMU headlight was not working. If it is so, why were there no hazard signals on the locomotive?