NIA takes over Kerala train arson case

With the Kerala police invoking the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act in the Kerala train arson incident, the National Investigation Agency took over the case on Tuesday.

According to sources, the NIA took over the case mainly because the accused Shahrukh Saifi hailed from Delhi and the involvement of any extremist outfits in the incident need to be probed.

With the union home ministry issuing a notification for taking over the case, the NIA Kochi unit filed a fresh FIR. The accused, who was in custody of Kerala police, was produced before court and shifted to prison. NIA may seek his custody later.

Additional DGP (law and order) M R Ajithkumar who was heading the special investigation team said on Monday that Saifi was a highly radicalised person and he used to frequently watch videos of Islamic preachers. He also said that the fire incident was a planned one.

Section 16 of the UAPA for terrorist act was invoked by the Kerala police in the case.

NIA and other central agencies have been looking into the case right from the initial stages owing to suspected extremist links.

Three persons were killed and nine suffered burns in the fire in D1 coach of Alappuzha - Kannur executive express train on April 2 as it reached Kozhikode. The accused set fire after sprinkling inflammable solution on the passengers and the coach.