Kerala train fire suspect arrested in Ratnagiri

New Delhi : The Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and Ratnagiri police on Tuesday night detained the Kerala train fire suspect from Ratnagiri railway station. He has been identified as 27-year-old Shahrukh Saifi, who is a resident of Delhi and used to work as a carpenter. He was sleeping at the station when the cops went to pick him up.

Shahrukh was apparently waiting for his train to go to his native town. Maharashtra Police has handed him over to the Kerala Police for further investigation in the train fire case.

Meanwhile, Shahrukh has admitted his crime before the cops. It has been learned that he was also injured in the train incident and took treatment at a civic hospital at Ratnagiri.

According to an ATS officer quoted in a media report, he travelled from Kerala to Maharashtra in a Kerala-Ajmer train. He got off the train at Kalambani railway station in Ratnagiri, where he took the help of locals to reach the civic hospital. He was then referred to a district hospital, where he was admitted for treatment. After primary treatment, he allegedly escaped from the hospital on Tuesday, fearing he would be nabbed.

Now, Kerala Police will be interrogating him to know the real reason behind the train fire. A PAN card, an Aadhaar card, a mobile phone and an ATM card have been recovered from his possession.

On Sunday night, an unidentified man had boarded a Kannur-bound train; he then sprayed a flammable liquid on to the passengers before setting the train ablaze. In a bid to save their lives, three people jumped off the moving train and lost their lives. The accused had managed to escape from the incident site but the police had found his bag with some hindi notes and a mobile phone.

Taking leads from the bag and investigations, the cops nabbed Shahrukh Saifi.