"Traced, nabbed from railway station...": Maharashtra ATS officer after arresting suspect in Kerala train fire case

Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], April 5 : Recounting the joint operation during which Sharukh Saifi, accused of sprinkling an inflammable liquid on a co-passenger on a moving train in Kerala, was nabbed, Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officer Mahesh Patil on Wednesday said that he was traced and arrested from the railway station in Ratnagiri.

"Last night we received input from the Intelligence Agency that the suspect in the Kerala case is likely to be in Ratnagiri. Based on the information, we took out a joint operation with Ratnagiri police to trace the accused," the officer said.

He said that the person was undergoing treatment in a district civil hospital in Ratnagiri, from where he [Shahrukh Saifi] fled. "The accused was later traced and nabbed at Ratnagiri railway station before handing him over to the Kerala police," Patil added.

Kerala police on Wednesday took custody of the man, suspected of carrying out an arson attempt on a co-passenger on a moving train in Kerala.

The Anti Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra handed over the custody of Shahrukh Saifi, who was detained late on Tuesday night with the help of the National Investigation Agency (NIA) in Maharashtra's Ratnagiri.

The arrest was done based on a sketch released by the Kerala police on information provided by an eyewitness. The accused has confessed to the crime, Maharashtra Police said adding that he has been handover to Kerala ATS.

According to Maharashtra Police, Saifi, 27, is a resident of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi's Jamia Nagar. A team from Kerala Police visited Saifi's residence, Delhi Police said.

"The suspected accused has been taken into custody. He will be brought back to Kerala. After a detailed interrogation of the accused, we will be able to know more details", Kerala DGP l Kant told reporters in Kerala's capital city Thiruvananthapuram.

The accused will now be produced by Kerala police before a court in the State within the next 24 hours.

Maharashtra police informed that Saifi was not cooperating with the probe or responding to questions posed by local police, the Maharashtra ATS or the Kerala police.

Maharashtra Police said that Saifi sustained severe injuries as he attempted to jump out from a train in Ratnagiri's Khed area.

"He is severely injured, he was injured when he was travelling in another train and jumped down the train at Khed area in Ratnagiri. Some locals found him and rushed him to a nearby hospital in Ratnagiri. Police received information after which they detained him," Maharashtra Police said.

Earlier today, Union Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw thanked the Maharashtra government for nabbing the suspect.

"The person who committed this heinous crime has been apprehended in Ratnagiri of Maharashtra. I thank the Maharashtra government, their police and RPF and the NIA who have apprehended him this quickly," Vaishnaw told outside Parliament.

The suspected perpetrator had been absconding after the April 2 incident on the Alappuzha-Kannur Express.

Kerala Police had formed an SIT and launched a hunt for Sharukh Saifi, who is accused of pouring an inflammable liquid on a fellow passenger and setting fire inside the D1 compartment of the Alappuzha-Kannur Main Executive Express train near Elathur in the Kozhikode district of Kerala.

On Tuesday, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) inspected the damaged train coaches of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express at the Kannur Railway station and collected forensic evidence.

Police also said that three persons, including a child and a woman, were found dead on the tracks near Elathur railway station, hours after the incident.

At least eight passengers on the train sustained burn injuries in the fire. Three persons who sustained burns in the fire were admitted to a nearby private hospital and five persons were admitted to the Kozhikode Medical College. At least three of the injured are women. According to officials, the man set fire to a passenger allegedly after an argument.

According to one of the injured persons the unidentified assailant splashed an inflammable substance, seemingly petrol or kerosene on his co-passenger and the fire spread to other seats and luggage, engulfing the coach in flames.

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