In a compartment of the Alappuzha-Kannur Express as it was travelling through Elathur in Kerala's Kozhikode, a suspect from UP's Noida ignited two bottles of combustible liquid, killing three commuters, including a two-year-old girl, and injuring nine others. All three victims jumped off the moving train to escape the flames, police quoted eyewitnesses as saying.
Police identified Shah Rukh Saifi as a potential suspect after studying the contents of a bag they discovered on the train tracks close to the scene of the arson attack. To investigate the assault, a special investigation team (SIT) of 18 people was formed under the direction of Malappuram crime branch SP P Vikraman.
An official said, “The arson was possibly premeditated. We aren't ruling out a terror angle yet. All possibilities are being looked at.” State DGP Anil Kant, who visited Kannur, said. ADGP (law and order) would supervise the investigation.
Sources said the suspect arrived in Kerala recently, based on diary-like jottings in English and Hindi on a notebook found in the bag along with a mobile phone. The phone's SIM slot was empty. The bag also contained a bottle filled with a petrol-like liquid, sticky notes with names of several places in Kerala, clothes, a lunch box and spectacles. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is involved in the probe, the sources said.
Police discovered the bodies of Rahmath M. (45), her niece Sahara, and Noufeek several hours after the assault. Razik, a relative who was hurt in the episode, was with Rahmath and Sahara.