Railway board chairman, A K Mittal, gave his resignation on Wednesday. However, sources report that railway minister, Suresh Prabhu, has not accepted his resignation as yet.
Mittal was facing criticism following the Utkal Express derailment in Muzaffarnagar. The tragedy led to the death of 23 passengers and over 60 others sustained injuries.
Prabhu had directed the railway board chairman to fix responsibility after the Muzaffarnagar incident. The minister had added that he will not allow laxity in operations by the Railway Board.
“Will not allow laxity in operations by the (Railways) Board. I have directed CRB to fix responsibility on prima facie evidence by end of day,” Prabhu had said in a tweet.
Member, engineering railway board, Ashok Mittal was on Sunday sent on leave after the prima facie evidence showed negligence on the part of maintenance staff as the reason of the train derailment.
Divisional Railway Manager Delhi and General Manager Northern Railways, who had suspended four railway officials, have also been sent on leave.
R K Verma, senior divisional engineer, Delhi division, Rohit Kumar, Assistant engineer, Meerut, Delhi division, Inder Jeet Singh, Senior section engineer, Muzzafarnagar, and Pradeep Kumar, Junior engineer, Khatauli, were the four officials, suspended by the General Manager Northern Railways.
