Utkal Express Drailment: 4 Railway Officials Suspended, 3 Sent On leave

Mohd Jamshed from the Railway Board told the media in New Delhi that lapses in maintenance work being carried out on the track could have caused the accident involving the speeding train at Khatauli in Muzaffarnagar district. (PTI Photo)

Earlier, as the authorities began probing the exact cause of the train disaster, a criminal complaint was lodged against unknown people for causing deaths by negligence. (PTI Photo)

There have been two back-to-back accidents in the last five days, triggering demands for the minister's resignation. Photo: PTI

On Saturday, 156 people were injured in the derailment of Utkal Express in western Uttar Pradesh. (PTI Photo/File)

The action, which came nearly 24 hours after the tragedy, was taken based on prima facie evidence, a Railway Ministry statement said. (PTI Photo)

The government on Sunday suspended four Northern Railway officials and sent its General Manager on leave after authorities admitted to negligence that may have led to the derailment of the Kalinga Utkal Express train in Uttar Pradesh which claimed 22 lives. (PTI Photo)

Many of the 156 injured were in a critical state, Awanish Kumar Awasthi, Principal Secretary (Information), UP government, said. The Union railway ministry said in a release that 21 people were killed and 97 injured, 26 of them grievously, in the derailment. (PTI Photo/File)

Senior Superintendent of Police Anant Deo told IANS that 22 people had died: 20 in Muzaffarnagar district and one each in hospitals in Ghaziabad and Meerut where they had been taken by their families. All but two of them were identified. Over 150 injured were being treated in Muzaffarnagar and Meerut. (AP Photo)

The Kalinga Utkal Express was on its way from Puri in Odisha to Haridwar in Uttarakhand when 14 coaches derailed at Khatauli. The accident was so severe that some of the derailed coaches mounted on others. (AP Photo)

To worsen the situation, the local railway station manager claimed he had no idea of the work being carried out on the tracks. In the process, the train driver was not alerted to the danger. (AP Photo)

The official said authorities would look into possible sabotage and whether all precautions were taken while the repair work was on. (AP Photo)

He said the railways were probing the disaster from all angles and a case had been registered for causing damage or destruction of railway properties, for mischief, for death by negligence, for causing grievous hurt, injuring lives by overlooking safety. (AP Photo)

Soon after Prabhu's tweet about meeting the prime minister, the government announced the appointment of Air India CMD Ashwani Lohani as chairman of the Railway Board. Mittal has been replaced by Air India CMD Ashwini Lohani as the new chairman of the railway board.

He said in less than three years as the railway minister, he had devoted his blood and sweat to the Railways. Photo: AFP