NEW DELHI: The CBI has arrested three railway officials in connection with the Balasore train accident in Odisha that killed 293 people. Railway senior section engineer Arun Kumar Mahanta, section engineer Mohammad Ameer Khan and technician Papukumar were arrested. They were was arrested on charges of culpable homicide, tampering with evidence

The railway safety commissioner had given a report that the cause of the accident was failure of the signaling and operations departments. Security commissioner issued a report against the staff of Behanaga station. Repair work on the track was done here. However, CBI sources said that the officials did not follow the safety protocol of checking the signaling system before the train was allowed to pass. CBI is also probing the likelihood of sabotage.

The accident that shook the country took place on June 2. The reason for the accident was that the Coromandel Express got the green signal to the track where the goods train was lying. The Howrah-bound Yeswantpur Super Fast Express collided with the Chennai-bound Coromandel Express goods train and derailed the coaches. 293 people died in the accident. About fifty people is yet to be identified.