Joint team probe hints at sabotage angle in Tamil Nadu train accident

Multi-departmental probe into Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express accident reveals missing nuts and bolts, suggesting possible sabotage angle.

A multi-departmental probe into the circumstances that led to the accident of the Mysuru-Darbhanga Bagmati Express at Kavarapettai in Southern Railway’s Chennai Division on the night of October 11, 2024, has found nuts and bolts “missing” from a crucial point on the railway line, suggesting a possible sabotage angle.

According to railway sources, the probe pertains to the rear-end collision of the Bagmati Express, which passed the green signal set for the main line at 90 kmph speed but ran into the loop line and hit an empty goods train stabled there. The accident resulted in the derailment of about 13 coaches and injuries to some passengers. A parcel-cum-power car went up in flames in the impact of the collision.

As usual with train accidents, an investigation by a team of multi-departmental officials was ordered into the incident. A team of seven officials, including four Senior Section Engineers, who inspected the scene, submitted a 16-page joint observation report October 12, 2024.

However, the team did not come to any conclusion on what led to the accident. Their findings were mainly confined to the aftermath of the accident in terms of damage to coaches and other railway assets.

The report did not mention or elaborate certain crucial points such as: how the particular point on the railway line got set to loop line when the train was given signal to run on the main line; what triggered the fire in the parcel-cum-power car; panel switch positions at the Kavarapettai Station Master’s cabin; and analysis of data logger that contain vital data on the signal and live train movement, the sources said.

Even as the Southern Railway General Manager R.N. Singh went on record saying that “something unusual happened and the train, instead of taking the main line, entered the loop line... there was some change in the point setting. It happened by some fault or some other reason”, the probe team did not give any prima facie explanation of the same.

The report explained in detail about Point No 51-B, the point on the railway line near the accident spot, and stated that “hammering” marks were seen on the D-bracket, tongue rail and bracket bolt. Nuts and bolts that fix the tongue rail clamp were found “missing”. A bolt of the D-bracket was found to be loose. Lock and indication rods of the same bracket were dislocated and found several metres away, the sources said.