A probe team of Kerala Police has arrested Shahrukh Saifi from Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri. Saifi is accused of setting his co-passengers on fire in a moving train in Kerala. On Tuesday, April 5, a special investigation team from Kerala nabbed the accused around 3 am from a train at Ratnagiri.
According to media reports, accused Shahrukh Saifi is currently under the custody of the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorist Squad (ATS).
Saifi had reportedly boarded the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train in Kozhikode at around 9.45 pm on Sunday, April 2, to pour an inflammable liquid on fellow passengers in the moving train and set them on fire.
The bodies of a woman, a man and a child were found on the tracks near the Elathur station after the incident, the police had stated. It is suspected that the 3 persons were trying to get away from the fire and may have fallen or jumped from the train to escape.
A sketch of the accused was released by the police. Earlier it was reported that a suspect was taken into custody by the UP ATS from Uttar Pradesh’s Bulandshahr. However, UP ATS chief Navin Arora stated that the ATS team only checked his credentials, and the person was neither arrested nor interrogated.
Reportedly, the National Investigation Agency’s (NIA) four-membered team on Monday visited the spot and inquired about the incident. The team suspects terror links to the incident. However, it has not officially taken over the investigation.
The Police also recovered a suspicious bag probably belonging to the accused. While NIA suspects a terror angle in the case, the state police have revealed that the incident does not seem to be an act of terror.