Prime suspect in Kanpur train accident last year has been arrested from Kathmandu’s Tribhuvan International Airport after being deported from Dubai.
The suspect, identified as Samshul Hoda, was taken into custody by a special team of Nepal Police, reports said. Besides, three others were also arrested.
The three others arrested are identified as Brij Kishor Giri, Ashish Singh and Umesh Kumar Kurmi, all from Kalaiya district in southern Nepal.
“Hoda has been detained from the Tribhuvan International Airport yesterday,” Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Pashupati Upadhyaya told reporters on Tuesday.
"We have heard that Hoda is wanted in a railway accident that took place in Kanpur last year killing 150 people," Upadhyaya added.
Upadhyaya assured that Nepali officials will work in close coordination with their Indian counterparts to bring the perpetrators of the crime to the book.
The police have brought Hoda and three other accused criminals to Nepal from Dubai in coordination with the Interpol.
Hoda is said to be an agent of Pakistan's spy agency Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI). Based in Dubal, he had played key role in organising the crime. He is also a known operative of fake Indian currency and has a network in Nepal.
NIA confirms Shamsul Huda's arrest
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has confirmed that Dubai-based Shamsul Huda, who acted as the alleged mastermind for the ISI-backed plot to cause train accidents in the country, was arrested by the police in Nepal.
"Shamshul Huda has been arrested by the Nepal Police after being deported from Dubai," a senior NIA official said.
The official also described Huda's arrest as a big breakthrough in the three cases that was handed over to the agency.
The three cases comprised a failed attempt to detonate an IED (improvised explosive device) on the Ghorasahan track in East Champaran district of Bihar; the suspected sabotage behind the Indore-Patna Express train accident in Kanpur on November 20, 2016, that killed 159 people; and the derailement of Hirakhand Express in Koneru in Andhra Pradesh on January 21 which resulted in the deaths of 41 persons.
The NIA official further said that the agency is in touch with the Nepalese authority to seek access for his questioning.
