Kerala police intensifies search to nab man who set co-passengers on fire in train

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The bizarre incident in which a man set his co-passenger on fire aboard an express train in Kozhikode on Sunday, has had Kerala police on its toes with initial leads suggesting that the accused could be a native of Uttar Pradesh.

The cops are probing all angles including a possible terrorist or Maoist link considering the fact that the incident looks pre planned. “The probe is being carried out under the direct supervision of North Zone IG Neeraj Gupta. We have got some clues and these are being examined scientifically. We are forming a Special Investigation Team. We have received certain leads and we are hopeful of getting to the culprit soon,” said State Police Chief Anil Kant shortly before leaving for Kannur.

The incident took place around 9.45 pm on Sunday when the Alappuzha - Kannur Executive Express train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge after crossing Kozhikode city. The accused, suspected to be in his mid-twenties who was wearing a red shirt and dark coloured pants, poured petrol on a co-passenger from a bottle in D 1 coach and lit fire causing panic in the compartment.

Nine persons including three women sustained burn injuries in the incident. One of the panic-stricken passengers pulled the emergency chain bringing the train to a halt. While the assailant managed to flee from the spot, the injured were rushed to different hospitals for emergency treatment.

In a related incident, the bodies of three persons including a woman and an infant were found on the railway track near the place where the unidentified man set fire in the train. Immediately after the petrol incident, fellow passengers had raised an alarm about the missing passengers including a woman and an infant. Since there are no burn injuries on the bodies of victims, it is suspected that the woman and child had jumped off the train in panic after the man poured petrol.

Assailant on the run

CCTV footage obtained from the site indicates that a youth wearing a red shirt and dark pants, is standing on the roadside along the Kozhikode-Kannur highway. After some time, a two-wheeler halts near him and he leaves on it.

While it is still not clear whether the person seen on the CCTV footage is the assailant, the cops are preparing a sketch of the accused based on eye witness accounts.

A team of forensic and fingerprint experts who visited the spot and the train have collected samples from the area. The police team recovered a book on the railway tracks which contained notes in English and Hindi. However, there is nothing scribbled in Malayalam on the notes and it mainly contains names of places like Kazhakootam, Chieryankeezhu and Kanyakumari.

Besides there is the letter “S” written in a larger size and the notes also contain a few mathematical calculations besides several dates and names of railway stations.

The cops have also recovered a mobile phone, glasses, wallet, clothes, snacks, a pen and a bottle of petrol in a bag which they recovered on the tracks.

“We have received a bag suspected to be that of the accused. We are working on different leads. All angles are being examined. Three persons have died in the incident,” said North Zone IG Neeraj Gupta.