Kozhikode: The Maharashtra Anti Terrorist Squad and Central Intelligence Police have arrested the prime accused who allegedly set ablaze passengers inside the Alappuzha-Kannur Express train on the night of Sunday Apr. 2, sources said on Wednesday. Sources said that the accused identified as Shahrukh Saifi was arrested from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra and is being interrogated by the SIT. He will be handed over to the Kerala Police.
It is learnt that the accused has burn marks on his body and face and was nabbed by the SIT while trying to escape from the hospital. Kerala Police sources said that he reached Ratnagiri by train. Sources said that the accused was nabbed on the basis of a bag left behind after the arson and the sketch made by the Kerala Police.
A team of Kerala Police also visited the accused's residence in Shaheen Bagh of Delhi. The arrest of the suspect comes a day after another suspect from was briefly detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police from Bulandshahr. The case relates to the fire incident inside the Alappuzha-Kannur Express train on Sunday night. Nine people suffered burn injuries in the incident while bodies of a woman, an infant, and a man, who fell off the train or attempted to get down due to the fire-ignited by the accused-were recovered from the tracks near the Elathur railway station.
Also read: NIA inspect train coaches at Kannur after train fire incident
The deceased were identified as Rahmat (43), a native of Mattannur, her younger sister's daughter Sahara (2), and Naufiq (41), a native of Mattannur. The incident occurred around 9.45 PM on Sunday when the train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge here after crossing Kozhikode city. On Tuesday, senior officials of various investigating agencies, including the NIA (National Investigation Agency) and the Railway Protection Force (RPF) inspected the coaches of the Alappuzha-Kannur Express train as part of the investigation.
Senior officials of the Kerala police, RPF also held a high-level meeting and charted a course of action to nab the accused in the incident that has rocked the southern state.
