Madurai train coach fire: Court sends five accused to remand till September 11

Five people, including tour operators and a cook, had been arrested in connection with the Madurai train coach fire. Nine pilgrims hailing from Uttar Pradesh, who were travelling to Rameswaram, had lost their lives.

Madurai (Tamil Nadu): Five arrested accused in Madurai train coach fire were sent to judicial custody by Madurai District Court. The court remanded them to judicial custody until September 11, allowing authorities to conduct further investigations. Five people, including tour operators and a cook, had been arrested in connection with the Madurai train coach fire. Nine pilgrims hailing from Uttar Pradesh, who were travelling to Rameswaram, had lost their lives.

The arrested accused Sathyaprakash, Narendra, Kardish Sakhani, Deepak and Sukum Kashyap were produced before the Chief Judicial Magistrate of the Madurai District Court. The five accused were booked under Sections 302,304 and 285 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) and Section 164 of the Indian Railway (IR) Act.

It may be recalled that a tourist coach in the Lucknow-Rameswaram Express was parked at Madurai's outer yard. The train coach caught fire last Saturday morning due to a cylinder explosion, which resulted in the death of nine people. Several others were grievously injured.

A gas cylinder, which was illegally smuggled inside the train compartment, exploded when a cook was trying to make tea. Around 55 pilgrims and eight staffers were travelling in the coach wherein nine people lost their lives in the fire. The railway and local police had a tough time identifying the bodies of the deceased as they were charred beyond recognition. Luckily, at the time of the mishap, several of the pilgrims were not present inside the train compartment. Had they been present inside the compartment the death toll could have been much higher.

Following the mishap, a team of forensic experts from the Railway Police was sent to collect the evidence from the spot. During the investigation, the forensic team recovered damaged parts of the exploded cylinder. Amid the charred remains of the train coach, the team also found burnt currency notes worth Rs 1 lakh.