Odisha Train Tragedy: ‘Not allowed to meet son… don’t know where he is?’, alleges driver’s family

Since the tragic train accident in Odisha, driver Gunanidhi Mohanty’s family has not yet been allowed to meet him. His family says that everyone feels that the accident happened because of Mohanty’s mistake. He has been running the train for 27 years, but there has never been any mistake and now when he is not being allowed to meet, how will he know what happened that day.

According to a Hindustan Times report, Gunanidha Mohanty lives in Naharpada village, 10 kilometers from Cuttack, where the train accident has been the talk of the town for two weeks. There is a discussion among the people sitting on the playground, tea shop, footpath that why Gunanidhi Mohanty was driving the fast train. Gunanidhi’s father Bishnu Charan Mohanty said that everyone thinks his son is responsible for the accident, but he has been driving the train for the past 27 years and has never made a mistake. He said that he had not spoken to his son since the accident so how would he know what had happened that evening.

Gunanidhi’s family was allowed to meet him two days after the accident, but only for a few seconds. He was kept in the ICU and was not even allowed to take the phone there. Gunanidhi’s brother told that after that the family was not allowed to meet him. Meanwhile, a doctor working in the medical department of the East Coast Railway discharged Gunanidhi from the hospital four days ago, but his father and brother are still saying they do not know where Gunanidhi is. His family is of the opinion that Gunanidhi is still in the hospital.

Gunanidhi is posted in the East Coast Railway, but no information has been given about his health there. East Coast Railway PRO Vikas Kumar said that health is a personal issue and we cannot comment on it. Also two investigations (by CRS and CBI) are going on so we cannot comment on the same. A senior official of AMRI hospital said that both the loco pilot and the assistant loco pilot were discharged 4-5 days ago.

According to the report, Gunanidhi’s brother Sanjay Mohanty said that he was sure that his brother had no role in the accident. He said that Gunanidhi started his job as a goods train driver in 1996 and only a few years ago he started driving passenger trains. He said that Gunanidhi used to tell him on which track the train would go, on which the loco pilot had little control and the responsibility rested with the on-duty station master, while everyone felt that the accident was Gunanidhi’s fault. . He said that the Coromandel Express was allowed to travel at a speed of 130 kmph on that track, while its actual speed was 128 kmph.