JOIN USMister of State for Railways Suresh Angadi said the South Western Railway has suspended two persons on charges of dereliction of duty which resulted in minor blast at Hubballi Railway station on October 21.
Speaking to media persons after inspecting the blast site, five days after the incident, here on Saturday he said Hubballi Station Master Varan Kumar Das, and Railway Protection Force (RPF) Assistant Sub-Inspector Manjunath are the suspended officials.
Angadi said investigations are on and it would be too early to say anything about the case. He said, investigating officials have been given three days time to give a detailed report about the incident and why a private person was allowed to handle an explosive item that was found in the Amaravathi Express. Strict action would be taken against all the persons involved in the lapses in security, he said.
A six-member team of bomb detection and disposal squads (BDDS) from Bengaluru on Saturday scientifically disposed off the 15 ‘live explosives’ that were found abandoned in Amaravathi Express at Hubballi railway station on October 21.
The officials, took these explosives in a special vehicle from the Hubballi railway station to the new CRP Ground on the outskirts of Hubballi and disposed those explosives as per the manuals.
Angadi has asked the officials to provide the details of the bomb, including its content and purpose of use, within three days to the State government.
Not privatisation
Angadi clarified that Union government is not contemplating of privatising Indian railways. Union Minister Piyush Goyal has made it ample clear that the Union government is only corporatising the railways, where private companies will develop railway station, like its being done for Airports across India.
Similarly, the Indian Railways is also looking for private players who can run 150 private trains by paying rent for railway tracks to the Indian Railways. This is being done to increase revenue, he said.