New Delhi: The 2 April Kerala train fire incident — in which three people, including a minor, were killed and nine others suffered burn injuries — was a “planned conspiracy” by a group with “possible terror links”, ThePrint has learnt.
According to a Central intelligence source, the main accused, Sharukh Saifi, who also suffered burn injuries in the attack, had purchased 4 litres of petrol from a petrol pump in Palakkad, just a kilometre away from the railway station, on the morning of 2 April and was carrying it with him in two bottles.
“This clearly was a planned conspiracy to carry out an attack to spread terror. It was according to a plan that Saifi left from Delhi on a train to Kerala and then spent over 12 hours in Palakkad arranging logistics, including the petrol that he used in the attack,” the source said.
“It is also certain that he was getting local help to execute this since he was in touch with a person in Kerala and had spoken to him three days before the attack, the day he left from Delhi. Moreover, he had two phones with him, which were recovered from his bag, and its data is now being analysed,” the source added.
The police have also recovered CCTV footage from the petrol pump from where the petrol was purchased. The footage shows Saifi going to the petrol pump in an auto, the source said.
According to reports, it was initially believed that the incident took place following an altercation between Saifi and another passenger. However, the police and a passenger present in the compartment said there was no altercation.
Saifi, 27, carpenter and resident of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi, was arrested by the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police and Central Intelligence last week and was taken to Kozhikode. He has been charged with murder.
The National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over the case to probe Saifi’s terror links.
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‘Terror links’
According to the source quoted above, initially it appeared that Saifi was “mentally disturbed” as his statement was “not coherent”. Sustained interrogation and evidence gathered from CCTV footage and his phone, however, pointed to a “larger conspiracy”.
When asked if the investigators have been able to ascertain the group he was suspected to be associated with, the officers said it was a matter of investigation.
“Whether he was associated with a particular terror group or not is under probe. We have accessed details from his phone and will be able to comment on the same once we have all the information. We have also accessed the details of his bank account and are analysing the source from where he was receiving funds,” the source added.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)