Kerala train fire incident: In a recent development to the Kerala train fire incident, the prime suspect was sent to 14-day judicial custody on Friday. The suspect, identified as Shahrukh Saifi, has been accused of setting fellow passengers ablaze on a moving train which claimed three lives.
According to reports, he was hospitalised after being taken into custody from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra as he had suffered injuries and his bilirubin levels were high.
On Thursday, after the medical examination tests revealed that he had suspected jaundice, the local magistrate arrived at the hospital this morning and decided to send Saifi to judicial custody.
Soon after the magistrate left, the medical board met and after assessing the medical condition of Saifi decided that he could be discharged. With Saifi being sent to judicial custody, the Kerala Police probe team will have to move the court for his custody for questioning and evidence collection. They will take him to Ratnagiri from where he was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad with the help of the Central agency on Wednesday.
What was the incident?
On April 3, at least three people were killed and several others sustained burn injuries after an unidentified person splashed an inflammable substance inside the compartment of a moving train and set it ablaze.
According to reports, the suspect had poured petrol on a passenger and set a fire inside the D1 compartment of the Alappuzha-Kannur Main Executive Express train near Elathur in Kozhikode district. One of the injured persons had informed that an unidentified assailant splashed an inflammable substance, seemingly petrol or kerosene, and set the train on fire.
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The bodies of a woman, an infant, and a man, who went missing from the train after the fire, were recovered from the tracks near the Elathur railway station, late on Sunday night. Police believe they fell off the train or attempted to get down after seeing the fire.
(With inputs from agencies)
