Eight injured by pouring petrol on train, three dead bodies found on railway track, NIA starts investigation

A man on Sunday set ablaze the running Alappuzha Kannur Executive Express train at Kozhikode in Kerala by spraying petrol on passengers. Eight people including women were injured. According to officials, the condition of the injured is not serious. After the information of this incident, when the railway officers were checking the railway track, the dead bodies of three people were recovered. According to ANI, 3 people died after a train caught fire near Elathur railway station in Kozhikode district. Forensic experts are present on the spot. The police are probing the matter. More details are awaited. At around 9.45 pm on Sunday night, there was a stir in the D1 bogie of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train. When a person sprinkled petrol on his fellow passengers and set them on fire. It is being told that the accused had set a woman on fire after spraying petrol on her after a clash with some passengers including the woman. According to ANI, Latish, a passenger present in the D1 coach, said that a person wearing a red shirt first sprinkled petrol and then lit a match. This caught fire in the coach. Due to this at least eight people were injured. The accused is absconding. Police are looking for the accused. The NIA has started a preliminary inquiry into the incident. Also, state police chief Anil Kant is about to reach the accident site.

Some of the injured have been identified as Prakash, Ruby and Jyotindranath. All of them are alumni of Government Engineering College, Kannur. The names of the other injured are not yet known. The accused fled in the ruckus that followed the fire. The police are desperately searching for the accused.

After the arson incident, some passengers were reported missing from the train. The city police conducted a search on the railway track. Three dead bodies were recovered in the search. Among the dead are a woman, a child and a middle-aged man. Police suspect that after seeing the fire, he might have tried to jump from the moving train, which led to his death. But the matter is still doubtful. The police are yet to confirm the relationship between the fire and the dead body.

According to a senior police officer, the investigation is now focused on the man. Who randomly attacked the passengers. It is a serious matter and the reason behind their attack is not clear, the official said.

CCTV footage on Monday morning showed the man riding a bike about 50 meters away from where he jumped off the train. A bag and a switched-off mobile phone have been recovered from the spot. The bag contained a piece of paper with a note in English and Hindi about places in nearby Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari. It also had a pair of clothes, spectacles and a bottle of petrol.