Patna: The district magistrate and superintendent of police of Aurangabad have ruled out the possibility of sabotage behind the Rajdhani Express accident, which claimed over 100 lives and left many more injured, official sources said on September 13.

Divisional commissioner (Magadh Range) H C Sirohi said over phone that in a report sent to the Bihar Home Commissioner U N Panjiar, the two officials have mentioned the cause and nature of the accident and the relief and rescue operation launched by the district administration.

Bihar government had sought a joint report from them following a directive from the Centre to send a detailed report narrating the reasons behind the mishap. The issue had snowballed into a controversy after the Railways and state government officials blamed each other for the mishap.

Railway Minister Nitish Kumar, his deputy Bandaru Dattatreya and Railway board chairman I I M S Rana had said the accident was a case of sabotage as removed fish plates were recovered from the accident site.

RJD president Laloo Prasad Yadav had rubbished the sabotage theory and maintained that the accident took place due to negligence on the part of the railways and the poor maintenance of the bridge and tracks.

The district magistrate of Aurangabad S Sidharth and superintendent of police S K Jha in a two-page report have also dismissed the claims of the Railway authorities regarding removal of fishplates, Sirohi said.

PTI