TMC behind Odisha train crash, tapped officials’ phone: BJP’s Suvendu Adhikari

Leader of Opposition in the West Bengal assembly Suvendu Adhikari on Tuesday alleged that the chief minister Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress (TMC) was behind the Odisha train accident that killed 278 people and injured over 1000.

Adhikari stressed the need to uncover the alleged conspiracy from its very roots as he questioned the TMC’s reluctance to support a Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigation, especially when the place of occurrence of the accident is in Odisha.

“How did the conversation between two railway officials reach the TMC should also be probed,” he added. Adhikari was referring to an alleged audio clip of a conversation between two railway officials, which TMC leader Kunal Ghosh shared on Twitter last Sunday.

BJP vs TMC over Odisha train crash

The tragic collision of three trains in Odisha’s Balasore district has escalated into a political slugfest. The TMC accused the central government of disregarding passenger safety and demanded the resignation of railway minister Ashwani Vaishnaw, while the Bharatiya Janata Party labelled the West Bengal chief minister as a “motor mouth.”

TMC called for an investigation into the absence of an anti-collision system on the trains, which could have prevented the disaster.

Meanwhile, BJP said that the inquiry into the accident would unravel the truth, and reminded TMC that railway accidents had occurred during Mamata Banerjee’s term as railway minister.

Odisha train accident: What we know so far

At least 278 people have been killed and over 1000 were injured in a horrific three-train collision. The crash involved the Bengaluru-Howrah Superfast Express, the Shalimar-Chennai Central Coromandel Express, and a goods train.

More than 51 hours after the triple train collision, passenger trains resumed operations on the repaired tracks, after restoration works were undertaken on a war footing, on Monday.