Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

Train accident: CID probe ordered

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD DEC. 23. The Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, N. Chandrababu Naidu, today said that the State Government would not rush to conclusions about the causes of Saturday's rail mishap near Pendekal in Kurnool district which officials have attributed to sabotage.

He said he had ordered the CID to investigate the tragedy involving the Kacheguda-Bangalore Express from various angles in coordination with the South Central Railway and asked the Home Minister, T. Devender Goud, to supervise the probe on a daily basis.

Mr. Naidu was speaking to reporters after presiding over a high-level meeting to review the position in the wake of reports that the train derailed due to tampering of the track leading to the death of 20 passengers and injuries to 80 others.

Declining to speculate the reasons, he said samples of the evidence collected from the accident spot had been sent to the Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory (DMRL) for scientific analysis. Only after collating all the reports could the Government come to any conclusion.

Mr. Naidu's cautious approach is in line with the State Government's view that it would be prudent to await results of scientific tests of samples even though the sabotage theory has gained currency due to recovery of hacksaw blades and a frame some distance away from the site of the tragedy.

The SCR General Manager, S.M. Singla, had stated categorically that the tragedy was caused when the train passed over the portion of the segment of the damaged track which was cut. This view was buttressed by the DGP, P. Ramulu' s statement that forensic evidence conclusively proved sabotage.

Evidence like the recovery of iron filings points to the fact that the track has been cut. But, officials are unable to explain why the Bangalore-Kacheguda Express passed on the same track uneventfully barely 20 minutes earlier.

Other questions are also being raised against the sabotage theory. If it is the handiwork of the People's War, why should the militants resort to the unsophisticated and time-consuming method of cutting the track with a small hacksaw blade when they have the means to blast it or remove fishplates.

A senior official remarked: "When they are blowing up entire buildings of railway stations, it is meaningless to imagine that they will spend an entire week filing away at the railway track. Their modus operandi is to conduct an operation swiftly and escape from the scene.''

The Government is not prepared to accept the SCR General Manager's view about sabotage without finding clinching evidence to substantiate it. The feeling is that the railway authorities have in the past blamed law and order problems in States to cover up their shortcomings.

Police officials made a computer presentation of the segment of the track that had been cut, the rusted portions and iron filings. Apart from the Home Minister, the Principal Secretary, Transport, Roads & Buildings, Janaki Kondapi, the Additional DG, CID, M.L. Kumawat, the IG (Intelligence), A. Shiv Shanker, and other senior police and forensic officials were present.

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