Orissa High Court Grants Conditional Bail To Three Accused In Balasore Train Accident Case

The Orissa High Court granted conditional bail on Tuesday to three individuals arrested in connection with the tragic 2023 train collision in Balasore, Odisha, which resulted in over 290 deaths. The accused—Mohammad Amir Khan, Arun Kumar Mahanta, and Pappu Yadav—were detained by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) on July 7, 2023, for alleged negligence that contributed to the accident.

Mahanta, who served as a senior section engineer-in-charge and technician in Balasore at the time, and Khan, also a senior section engineer based in Soro near Balasore, were directly involved in the region where the accident took place.

Justice Aditya Kumar Mohapatra, presiding as a single-judge bench, granted their release on a bail bond of Rs 50,000 each, with two local solvent sureties of the same amount. The court also imposed six conditions, including barring the accused from being posted in the division where the accident occurred.

The collision on June 2, 2023, involving the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, the Bengaluru-Howrah Super Fast Express, and a goods train, happened near Bahanaga Bazar station. The incident led to the loss of at least 296 lives and left over 1,200 injured.

A high-level railway inquiry attributed the tragedy to "wrong signalling" and cited multiple lapses within the S&T department. The report also noted that if previous warnings had been addressed, the accident could have potentially been avoided.