Train collision case charge sheet to be filed on Friday, will cite negligence of driver

It will also present 169 witness accounts and 25 pieces of material evidence

TRAGEDY ON RAILS: Smashed coaches of a passenger train that was hit by another train at Kilkandigai village in Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district on Tuesday night. Photo: D.Gopalakrishnan

The Government Railway Police (GRP) will cite about 169 witnesses and 25 pieces of material evidence in a charge sheet pertaining to the collision of two trains near Arakkonam in Vellore district on September 13, 2011, which left 11 passengers dead and more than 70 injured, police sources said on Thursday.

The GRP is expected to file a 600-page charge sheet in a Judicial Magistrate Court at Arakkonam on Friday.

Investigating officials said the prosecution mainly relied upon scientific evidence though statements were recorded from eyewitnesses, passengers and railway employees.

The incident pertains to the collision between the Chennai Beach-Vellore Cantonment Mainline Electrical Multiple Unit and the Arakkonam-Katpadi passenger train near Chitheri railway station.

The speeding MEMU rammed into the rear of the passenger train that was moving at a slow speed.

A special team led by Deputy Superintendent of Police V. Ponram that went into the details of the case found that negligence on the part of the MEMU driver led to the collision.

Investigation revealed that the driver was speaking on his mobile phone at the time of the accident and jumped the signal in red (danger). Moreover, the seized speedometer indicated that the MEMU was moving at high speed at the time of collision.

Though the police initially registered a case under section 304A (causing death due to negligence) of IPC, it was later altered to section 304 (culpable homicide not amounting to murder). Though the driver A. Rajkumar initially denied having used his mobile phone while on duty and maintained that he did not cross the signal in danger, incoming/outgoing call details on his mobile phone revealed that he was speaking till a few minutes before the accident, the sources said.

“After examining railway officials, injured passengers and other members of the public, we perused material evidence. All facts pointed to wilful negligence on part of the MEMU driver. The report of the Commissioner of Railway Safety also coincided with our findings that it was a human error. This is not an accident…it is a case of culpable homicide not amounting to murder,” Mr. Ponram told The Hindu on Thursday.