"No staff missing or absconding", clarifies Indian Railways amid 'factually incorrect' media reports on Balasore train accident
The South Eastern Railway has dismissed media reports claiming that a railway official named Amir Khan has gone missing during the Central Bureau of Investigation's (CBI) investigation into the Balasore train mishap. South Eastern Railway CPRO Aditya Kumar Chaudhary clarified that these reports are "factually incorrect" and stated that the entire staff involved in the inquiry is present and cooperating with the agency.
New Delhi :
The clarification was issued in response to various media
outlets, including TV9 Bharatvarsh, News Nation, IANS, and India TV portal,
which reported that CBI officials visited junior engineer Amir Khan's rented
accommodation in Soro but found it locked and his family missing. Khan and
other railway staff had been questioned by the CBI regarding the incident.
The remarks made by certain media outlets were criticized for
adding a communal angle to the tragic train accident in Odisha, which claimed
the lives of approximately 275 people and left 1,000 injured. Misleading posts
on social media falsely alleged the involvement of the Muslim community in the
accident, pointing to a white structure near the tracks and falsely identifying
it as a mosque. The Odisha police had to issue a clarification, condemning the
spreading of misinformation and emphasizing that these claims were baseless and
intended to give a communal color to the tragedy.
