Balasore train tragedy: Who is Railway signal JE Amir Khan, whose house has been sealed by CBI

New Delhi: The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI), investigating the reasons behind tragic train accident in Odisha’s Balasore, on Monday sealed the house of Railway Signal junior engineer (JE), days after interrogating him.
Reports suggest that the CBI sleuths interrogated Soro section signal JE Amir Khan at his residence in Balasore recently but now he & his family has gone missing.

When the CBI team reached Khan’s rented residence near Annapurna rice mill in Soro on Monday, the house was locked and the whole family is said to have ‘disappeared’ from the location.

The triple train tragedy at Bahanaga in Odisha’s Balasore on June 2, resulted in death of about 290 people and left hundreds of people injured.

Who is Signal JE Amir Khan?

Amir Khan is a Junior Engineer (JE) working in railway signal department, under Soro section. He was among couple of people, interrogated by the CBI team regarding triple train accident.

Though, the investigating team hasn’t found any evidence of human error or alleged sabotage, Khan’s sudden disappearance has given rise to speculations.

Khan and his family members were staying at a rented house in Soro but yesterday, when the CBI team reached his house, they found it to be deserted & locked. His house has been sealed by the CBI team.

CBI team had interrogated him at his residence on June 16. However, when the team returned to him again on June 19, they found Amir & his family missing.

The CBI team has also visited Bahanaga Station Master’s house for further investigation.

Sabotage behind triple train accident?

The CBI had registered a case in connection with Balasore train accident, on the request of Ministry of Railways. Prima facie, it was understood to be a case of human error but later voices of sabotage & conspiracy started doing the rounds.

A couple of veteran army officers alongwith retired officers had written to the Prime Minister suspecting foul play & possibility of sabotage behind the tragic train accident. They wrote that this could be the handiwork of terror elements as they do take to such sinister designs for terrorizing the country.

Notably, Khordha Road DRM Rinkesh Ray had also suspected of ‘physical tampering’ in the accident.

On June 2, three trains involving Coromandel Express, Yashwantpur-Howrah Express and a goods train collided at Bahanaga Bazar, making it one the dreaded train accidents of the country.