Bengal rail accident: GRP forms 6-member SIT to conduct parallel probe based on passenger's complaint

The Government Railways Police (GRP) on Wednesday announced the formation of a six-member special investigation team for an independent probe in the Kanchanjunga Express-goods train collision in West Bengal's Darjeeling district on Monday, based on a complaint filed by a passenger of the train. 

Superintendent, GRP, Siliguri, S. Selvamurugan, said that the special investigation team will be headed by an officer of the rank of Deputy Superintendent of Police, who will be assisted by an Inspector, two Sub-Inspectors and two Assistant Sub-Inspectors.

The parallel investigation by the GRP is running side-by-side with the investigation by the office of the Commission of Railway Safety to find out the reasons behind the collision which is being carried out under the direct supervision of the Chief Commissioner of Railway Safety (CCRS) of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), Janak Kumar Garg.

On Wednesday, the members of the special investigation team went to the hospital to take a statement from the assistant loco-pilot of the goods train, who had been admitted there after the accident. However, the investigating officials did not make any comment to the media based on their preliminary findings.

Meanwhile, sources in the knowhow of things said that the assistant loco-pilot of the goods train Manu Kumar is out of danger now, though he is so shattered from the psychological impact of the accident that he is not in a mental state to face full-fledged questioning in the matter. Sources said that in that case, he might be questioned again later once he is out of his trauma fully.