A 27-year-old man from Delhi was detained in Maharashtra’s Ratnagiri on Wednesday and handed to the Kerala Police over his suspected involvement in the fire which left three people, including a child, dead on the Kannur Express on Sunday night.
Maharashtra’s Anti Terrorism Squad (ATS) nabbed Shahrukh Saifi based on inputs from the central agencies. A police officer said Saifi was admitted to a hospital in Ratnagiri after he fell from a train near Khed on April 3 and sustained injuries to his forehead.
Saifi is suspected to be the man, who poured petrol on fellow passengers and set them afire on the Kannur Express. Kerala Police suspect Sahramath, her aunt M Rehmat and M Noufeeq, a fish merchant, jumped out of the moving train in panic and died. The bodies of the three, who received head injuries, were recovered from the railway tracks.
An eye-witness said soon after the train was stopped, the suspect wearing a red shirt and jeans jumped out of it and fled. The train was stopped on a bridge on the Korapuzha River and it triggered more panic.
The suspect, who loitered around the train before pouring petrol on co-passengers, also suffered burn injuries.
Police recovered a bag with a bottle of petrol, two mobile phones, a lunch box, and a pair of clothes from the train. They released the sketch of the main suspect based on the description the witnesses provided.
The Kerala Police registered a case including under the Explosive Substances Act as chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan called the incident shocking and ordered a probe.
People aware of the matter cited preliminary investigation and said Saifi told police that he was standing at the door of the train in Ratnagiri when he lost his balance on April 3. The train was slow, but he sustained severe injuries.
Central agencies alerted Maharashtra ATS when Saifi’s location was traced to Ratnagiri on Tuesday. The Kerala Police also informed their counterparts in Maharashtra about his presence in Ratnagiri. The local police helped the ATS and the suspect was handed over to the Kerala Police after basic verification.
An ATS officer said Saifi was not cooperating with the investigators and not revealing how he came to Ratnagiri.