Kerala train attack: Prime accused nabbed from Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri

Mangalore Today News Network

Mumbai, April 05, 2023: In a joint operation, Maharashtra Police and central intelligence apprehended the prime accused in the Kerala train fire incident, in which three people died and nine others were injured.

 

Accused Sharukh Saifi was nabbed from Ratnagiri Railway Station in Maharashtra on the intervening night of April 4 and 5.

Here’s how police zeroed in on Sharukh Saifi and nabbed him:

    * The accused went on the run after setting a co-passenger on fire on board the Alapuzha-Kannur Express train in Kozhikode.
    * On Tuesday, his location was traced to Ratnagiri.
    * He was at Ratnagiri civil hospital for treatment of his head injuries that he received due to a fall while getting down from the train he had targeted.
    * However, he ran away from the hospital without completing the treatment.
    * Searches were conducted in the Ratnagiri area and Sharukh Saifi was located and detained.
    * At present, he is in the custody of RPF Ratnagiri. Kerala Police have reached Ratnagiri to question the accused.

WHAT IS THE KERALA TRAIN FIRE CASE?

Around 9.45 pm on Sunday (April 2), when the Alapuzha-Kannur Express train crossed Kozhikode city, an unidentified man poured an inflammable liquid on a co-passenger and set him on fire, resulting in burn injuries to at least eight persons, police said.

Three persons, including a one-year-old child and a woman, were reported missing from the train after the incident. They were found dead on the tracks near Elathur railway station later that night. Police believe they fell off the train or attempted to get down after seeing the fire.

A Special Investigation Team (SIT) was formed to probe the incident. A murder case was registered against the arsonist and a manhunt launched. Kerala DGP Anil Kant said a terror angle could not be ruled out in the case.

On Monday, Kerala Police released a sketch of the man suspected to have set the fire on the moving Kannur-bound train. A probe team conducted searches in Uttar Pradesh’s Noida, Ghaziabad and places in Haryana linked to the accused.

Two days after the incident rocked the state, 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 where the blaze was set.

Courtesy: India Today