GUWAHATI, Oct 21 - The State forest department today directed the Northeast Frontier Railway to shift the locomotive engine that had killed two elephants at Hojai on September 27 to Lumding for �further inspection� as part of the ongoing inquiry into the incident.
A day after the forest department insisted that the engine has been �seized�, the NF Railway today said a team of forest officials served a seizure memo, inspected and subsequently released the locomotive involved in the incident at the New Guwahati Loco Shed yesterday.
�It is not a first of its kind incident and is a procedural requirement for enquiry. There was no operational obstruction and the locomotive is currently in use of Railways,� the NF Railway stated.
Today, a team of forest officials visited the diesel locomotive shed again. �We have asked the Railways to shift it to Lumding for further inspection,� Hojai DFO Pulak Choudhury said, adding that the decision to allow the Railways to use the engine will be taken after the inspection.
A statement from the forest department today said the loco engine, �seized yesterday�, was later given back to the custody of senior divisional mechanical engineer Chandra Mohan Tiwari �in view of the continuity of essential services to the public and others�.
�In a �zimmanama�, Tiwari also agreed to pay Rs 12 crore for any loss and damage of the seized property,� the forest department said.
Earlier, the loco pilot and the assistant loco pilot of the train that had hit the elephants were placed under suspension by the Railways following an internal enquiry which revealed that the train was moving at a speed faster than the prescribed limit in that stretch.
