NIA to take over Kerala train fire case: Officials
The accused, identified as one Sharukh Saifi, who also suffered burn injuries, was slapped with murder charges on Friday under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code by a district session court in Kozhikode. He was charged with murder in a case filed by the railway police
In the latest development, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) will take over the Kerala train fire tragedy case, officials said on Sunday.
A senior official said that it was a clear case of terror but why he selected Kerala and his motives were still unclear.
According to the official, on Sunday, he was interrogated at the medical college hospital in Kozhikode while being examined by a team of doctors, where he was brought after the arrest.
“The NIA officials camping in Kozhikode submitted a detailed report to the Union home ministry. It is a clear case of terror involving many states. We will invoke the UAPA (Unlawful atrocities prevention act) soon. We are sure he was sent to the state by his handlers and he got enough local help also,” said another official close to the NIA.
Also Read: Kerala train fire accused Shahrukh Saifi charged with murder
“There was enough planning and conspiracy behind the crime and it was not a single-man mission as confessed by the accused,” said the official.
Three people, including a minor girl, were killed and nine others received burn injuries after the accused poured petrol on fellow passengers and allegedly set them afire on a Kannur-bound express train in Kerala last Sunday night.
The accused, identified as one Sharukh Saifi, who also suffered burn injuries, was slapped with murder charges on Friday under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code by a district session court in Kozhikode. He was charged with murder in a case filed by the railway police.
Saifi, 27, a native of Shaheenbagh in Delhi, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police and Central Intelligence on Wednesday and was brought to Kozhikode on Thursday where he is receiving treatment for the injuries.
At the time of interrogation by a special investigation team (SIT) Saifi provided contradictory statements in which initially, he said he was being used by someone and later retracted saying, everything was planned and executed by him only.
Meanwhile, the SIT has identified the petrol pump in Shornor (Palakkad) from where he bought four litres of petrol in two bottles.
According to SIT officials, Saifi came to Shornur on the morning of the day of the attack on April 2 where he spent more than 12 hours. In Shornur, officials said he also got a freshly-cooked meal which they found in his abandoned bag and this will need more investigation which could lead to others.
He also denied any role in the death of three persons whose bodies were recovered from the tracks after the fire. It was not clear whether they were pushed out of the speeding train or they jumped off after the commotion over the fire, SIT officials said.
CCTV footage recovered from the petrol pump showed he came on an auto-rickshaw to procure petrol which was one km away from the station to avoid suspicion, officials said.
SIT officials also suspect that he may have got local help in executing the crime as they found two cell phones in his bag which he used to make a call three days before the fire incident on March 30. Similarly, his bank account details also point to a larger conspiracy, officials said.
Also Read: Kerala train fire: Suspect held in Maharashtra
SIT officials also feel that he was not alone on the train and some handlers were monitoring his movements. His escape from the spot and later how he boarded another train from Kannur dodging police will have to be probed, said officials.
Upon interrogation, Saifi reportedly told the SIT that he jumped off the moving train after the fire but kept his bag near the door which he planned to come back and pick it but after the commotion, the bag fell off and it became a breakthrough leading to his arrest after it was found by the police.
Following the incident, Delhi police and SIT also questioned Saifi’s parents, relatives and friends. However, his family members claimed that Saifi has been missing from home since March 30.
Meanwhile, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has criticised the state’s delay in handing over the case to the NIA. “People can make out easily that it is a case of terror that needs investigation in many states. We have no idea why the state is delaying to handover the case to central agencies,” said party state president K Surendran.
