Kerala train fire: Court sends prime suspect Shahrukh Saifi to 14-day judicial custody

Mangalore Today News Network

Kozhikode, April 07, 2023: A court in Kozhikode on Friday sent Shahrukh Saifi, the prime suspect in the fire incident on board a Kannur-bound train that left three dead and several injured, to judicial custody for 14 days.

 

Saifi, 27, a resident of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh, was arrested by the Maharashtra ATS from Ratnagiri on Wednesday and brought to Kerala on Thursday.

Sub-judge S V Manesh went to Government Medical College Hospital in Kozhikode, where Saifi has been admitted since Thursday morning, to complete the process of remand. The accused had sustained minor injuries allegedly during an attempt to escape from the train. The police recorded his arrest at the hospital after doctors advised that he should be admitted.

Following the court directive on Saifi’s judicial custody, the medical board will take a decision on his discharge from the hospital. Upon discharge, he will be lodged in a jail in Kozhikode.

On Sunday night, passengers of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express were sprayed with an inflammable substance and set on fire following which three panic-stricken passengers died after they jumped out of the train, while eight others sustained injuries.

The railway police in Kozhikode have registered a case of murder. Other sections in the FIR are 326A (causing grievous hurt by use of acid etc), 436 (mischief by fire and explosive substances), 438 (attempt to commit mischief by fire or explosives) of the Indian Penal Code and section 151 (damaging railway property) of the Indian Railways Act.

The police are yet to disclose information on the motive behind the crime and are investigating if a terror angle is involved.

Courtesy: Indian Express