Odisha train tragedy Congress recalls ‘chronology’ of Kanpur crash

Jairam Ramesh, a senior Congress leader, said on Tuesday that the Railway Board’s recommendation for a CBI investigation into the Odisha train accident was “nothing but headline management” for having “failed to meet deadlines.”

While the preliminary investigation by the railways identified a change in the electronic interlocking system as the cause of the horrific train crash that killed at least 275 people and injured many more, the Board has recommended a CBI probe to look into all possible causes, including human error and sabotage, according to a senior official.

The Congress general secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, questioned the need for a CBI investigation while the Commissioner of Railway Safety has yet to submit his report on the train disaster.

“This is nothing but headlines management having failed to meet deadlines,” Ramesh said in a tweet.

Jairam Ramesh also listed the timeline of an investigation into the Kanpur train accident, which killed at least 150 people, saying, “aap ye chronology yaad kijiye (please recall this chronology)”. The Congress leader stated that the then-railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, had written to the Union home minister requesting an investigation into the November 2016 train accident by the National Investigation Agency (NIA).

He then cited Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s February 2017 statement, in which he claimed that conspirators from “across the border” were to blame for a train derailment.