The Kerala Police chief has directed the state crime branch to hand over the complete details of the investigation into the recent train arson incident to the National Investigation Agency (NIA) as the NIA is probing the matter. The Director General of Police asked the Crime Branch to hand over all the details to the investigating agency.
In an order issued on Thursday, 20th April 2023, DGP Anil Kant said that the case registered under various sections of the Indian Penal Code, Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, Railways Act and Explosive Substances Act had been transferred from the state crime branch to the Kochi unit of the NIA. The order issued by the DGP said that the Superintendent of Malappuram Crime Branch, the investigating officer is directed to hand over CD files, connected records and case assets to the central agency ahead of time.
Kerala train terror attack
The terror attack took place on an express train in Kozhikode, Kerala on April 2. The accused Shahrukh Saifi set a passenger on fire. Nine people were burnt in this incident, while three people, including a child, were found dead on the tracks. Police suspect that they may have fallen while trying to escape the fire. A railway official said that passengers of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express pulled the emergency chain due to the fire.
Shahrukh, a YouTuber, and carpenter by profession is believed to have landed in Shornur town in Kerala from Delhi on April 2 and spent the entire day there before boarding the train. Investigators claimed that he filled a couple of bottles with petrol from a Shornur outlet during this time. On Tuesday, April 5, a special investigation team from Kerala nabbed the accused around 3 am from a train at Ratnagiri.
Shahrukh claimed to have carried out the attack near Elathur by himself, however, police suspect there may have been other people involved in the attack. Shahrukh also had a list of railway stations in the state that he wanted to target.
Shahrukh Saifi, a YouTuber by profession changed his lifestyle in June last year as he quit smoking and started to spend more time in Namaz. The police suspect that despite having a very small number of subscribers on his YouTube channel, Saifi is thought to have been approached by radicals because of his social media activity.
While Shahrukh reportedly told the cops about his changed lifestyle before carrying out the train fire attack, his family in Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh claimed that he never showed any explicit religious behaviour. The Kerala Police team visited the accused Shahrukh’s residence in Shaheen Bagh and questioned his parents. He went missing from his residence on March 30, following which his parents lodged a missing person complaint.
According to Additional Director General of Police M R Ajith Kumar, who also serves as the head of the special investigative team in Kozhikode, “Saifi has been constantly watching Naik’s videos. He is an extremely radicalised man who arrived in Kerala with the intent to do a crime. All of the evidence linking him to the crime has been acquired.”