THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Mystery shrouds the death of a 19-year-old polytechnic student, who allegedly set himself ablaze near a residential area in Thiruvananthapuram on Thursday, a day after he went missing from Kuruvambalam in Malappuram some 340 km away.
The deceased is Muhammed Sinan. Sources said on Wednesday morning, Sinan told his family that he was going to his college in Malappuram. When he failed to return by evening and could not be reached over the phone, his family filed a missing complaint with the Kolathur police.
However, by the time the Kolathur police commenced a probe on the complaint to locate him, Sinan had already reached Thiruvananthapuram by train. The Museum police said they came to know about the blaze around 12.45am. Though Sinan was rushed to the hospital, he died within 30 minutes, they said.
Police said said he had no friends or acquaintances in the state capital.
CCTV footage show Sinan walking all the way from the Thiruvananthapuram Central railway station to the Museum police station limits. He is seen carrying a bottle containing what police believe is inflammable liquid, but it was unclear if it was petrol or diesel.
Though the police visited all petrol pumps in the locality to ascertain whether Sinan purchased fuel from there, they could not find any lead. There are also no visuals to suggest he pilfered the fuel from any vehicle parked in a public space.
“He suffered burns on his face and chest, which means he poured the fuel over his head. Also, there were no injuries below the chest, which suggests the bottle had a small quantity of inflammable material. He may have extracted it from a bike parked somewhere on the way,” said a Museum police officer.
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