Railways sweepingly rubbishes communal spin of missing employee

NT Correspondent

New Delhi: Railways on Tuesday denied the reports made by many media outlets claiming that one of their employees named ‘Amir Khan’ had been absconding since the Balasore train accident in Odisha that claimed 288 lives. It was noted by many that the reports were communal in nature and had the potential to trigger a conflagration.

Among those making the claims, TV news channels featured prominently, including TV9 Bharatvarsh, News Nation, WION, India TV and repeat offender Suresh Chavhanke from Sudarshan TV, who tweeted that Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) had sealed “killer” Khan’s home but later deleted the tweet without clarification.

Many others made a similar claim that CBI officials had visited “engineer Amir Khan’s” rented house in Soro but found it padlocked and that his family was missing. News Nation claimed that Khan’s absence “raised many questions”. Other offenders included news agency IANS. South Eastern Railway (SER) Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Aditya Kumar Chaudhary said that not a single railway officer was absconding since the incident.

“Some media reports have been claiming that some staff from Bahanaga Bazar are absconding or missing. However, this is factually incorrect. All staff is present and is a part of the inquiry. Whenever CSR (Commissioners of Railway Safety) and CBI are calling them, they are responding,” he said.