KOZHIKODE: The special investigation team of the Kerala Police which is investigating the Elathur train arson attack is struggling hard to unravel the mystery by repeatedly interrogating key accused Shahrukh Saifi who is in custody. The police are examining the CCTV footage of the 15 halt stations of Sampark Kranti Express train that Shahrukh Saifi boarded from Delhi.
The police found that Shahrukh Saifi left Delhi alone and he had bought a ticket to Kozhikode but got down in Shoranur on April 2. The accused had confessed that he bought the petrol used for the arson attack from Shoranur.
The investigation team is examining the footage from CCTVs installed at the railway stations where the Sampark Kranti Express train stopped on its way to Kerala. The team is trying to find whether anyone was in direct contact with Shahrukh Saifi during the journey. The entire information of those who travelled in the coaches that Shahrukh boarded is being collected.
The investigation team has decided to conduct a detailed investigation at the railway stations where the train stopped for a long time. They are checking whether Shahrukh Saifi got out when he reached any railway station while travelling, if anyone was following him, or if anyone met him during the journey.
Taken for evidence collection
Kannur: Shahrukh was taken to Kannur for evidence collection on Wednesday. The police team led by SP P Vikraman and Assistant Commissioner P Bijuraj, brought Shahrukh under tight security around 4.15 pm on Wednesday to Kannur railway station and completed evidence collection on the sealed compartments, D1 and D2, parked at the shunting yard at the east entrance to the railway station. The evidence collection continued for 30 minutes.
The investigation team has already collected CCTV visuals of Shahrukh drinking tea and eating a cake from the tea shop near the entrance to platform I. But, they did not take him to the shop for evidence collection. Shahrukh showed the place where he hid his bag in the coach and how he took out the bottles from the bag. He also explained how he poured petrol over the commuters and set fire with the use of a cigarette lighter. He explained these things in English to the officers.
Later, the police team took him to platform I where he took rest after the attack on the train. Shahrukh’s face was covered with a black mask during the evidence collection. After 45 minutes of evidence collection at Kannur railway station, the police team took him back to the AR Camp, Malurkunnu, in Kozhikode by road.
The investigation team began its journey from AR Camp Kozhikode around 1.30 pm and took Shahrukh by road under heavy security.
The team was accompanied by five vehicles including that of India Reserve Battalion. In Kannur, extensive security arrangements were put in place under city police commissioner Ajith Kumar and ACP T K Rathnakumar. Local police, RPF and railway police too were present during the evidence collection. It is learnt that Shahrukh would be taken to Elathur where the attack took place and Shoranur as part of evidence collection. Though the investigation team wanted to take Shahrukh to Kannur earlier, it was postponed due to his poor health.
It was on April 2 that Shahrukh Saifi created mayhem in the train by spraying petrol on commuters on board and setting fire. Three persons lost their lives in the arson attack. Meanwhile, the investigation is likely to be handed over to the NIA soon. Sources said that the state government has started measures to hand over the probe to the national agency in view of the wider ramifications of the case.
RAW, IB START PARALLEL PROBE
A parallel investigation into the arson attack is being conducted by the Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and Intelligence Bureau (IB). The RAW team had conducted an inspection at Elathur and surrounding areas recently. Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) officials from different states have also reached Kozhikode as part of the investigation. The ATS is probing the terror link in the case and whether Shahrukh has links with any banned terrorist organisation.