New Delhi: Sabotage was the reason behind the Howrah-Delhi Rajdhani Express derailment which claimed 108 lives in Aurangabad district of Bihar in September 2002, commissioner of railway safety, Eastern circle, Mahesh Chand, who probed the mishap, said on August 23.

"The mishap occurred due to an act of sabotage, as the train got derailed by opening of fish plates and elastic rail clips at the Howrah end approach of the bridge by some miscreants," Chand said releasing his report.

The chief commissioner of railway safety ratified the cause, which has also been accepted by the Railway Board, he said.

PTI