CRS not to probe Amritsar tragedy

Indian Railways on Saturday clarified that the Commissioner of Railway Safety (CRS) will not probe the Amritsar tragedy as it was not a "railway accident" but a case of trespassing on rail tracks.

"The commission conducts statutory investigation into railway accidents. This was an incident where people were trespassing on the tracks and not an accident," Railway Board chairman Ashwani Lohani said here on Saturday. Lohani and other top officials visited the spot on Friday night.

The railways has been maintaining that it was not at fault because it had no information about the Dussehra event.

The Commission of Railway Safety, under the administrative control of the Ministry of Civil Aviation, conducts mandatory inquiry into all railway accidents — at unmanned level crossings, derailments or after a bridge collapse.