Kerala train fire suspect admitted to hospital, transportation sparks row

The man suspected of starting a fire onboard a train in Kerala which led to the death of three, including a toddler, was brought to the southern state by road on Thursday and is presently admitted in the Kozhikode medical college.

A source in the medical college said the suspect, who was caught from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra on the Wednesday, was admitted there after his examination.

Earlier in the day, Kerala police' strategy to secretly bring the suspect to the state by road in a private SUV to avoid media and public attention went awry as the vehicle got stranded on the roadside with a flat tyre and only three officers to guard the accused as locals gathered there to get a glimpse of him.

The flat tyre incident occurred while the team was proceeding through Kannur district of the state and the officers sat inside the incapacitated SUV for around an hour, trying to arrange a replacement vehicle for their onward journey.

Subsequently, officers from Edakkad police station in Kannur turned up to provide security and after some more time went by, a jeep was brought as replacement.

However, it had some engine trouble and did not start and by then not only did the police team's journey get delayed, but the suspect's presence had invited both media and public attention to that place -- something which Kerala police was trying to avoid in the first place.

Eventually, the team had to settle for a small car -- a Wagon R -- to proceed to Kozhikode.

The flat tyre incident and the small number of officers accompanying the suspect invited criticism from the opposition Congress in the state which contended that it was proof of the "lackadaisical" manner in which the police handled the case.

Leader of Opposition in the state assembly VD Satheesan also termed as 'laughable', Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan's claim that the nabbing of the suspect in the train fire case indicated excellence of the state police.

The LoP said the police's actions in the case till now only indicated its "failure" and "lack of vigilance", which was "unpardonable" and the CM's claim of police excellence in the case was a "hollow" statement, which would make the public laugh.

Satheesan claimed that the suspect, Shahrukh Saifi, had travelled till Kannur (more than an hour's distance from Kozhikode where the incident took place) on the same train in which he set fire to passengers on April 2, and on the next day he boarded the Ernakulam-Ajmer Marusagar Express from there.

The Congress leader said it was surprising that the police conducted no checks on the train or at Kannur Railway Station and, despite the tragic loss of lives that shocked the state, not even an alert had been issued by the force.

"If a thorough search had been conducted at railway stations and other public places, the accused could have been taken into custody on the same day," he said, and added "Kerala police behaved extremely pathetically".

The police's actions amounted to providing an opportunity to the suspect to escape and cross the Kerala border, he said.

Though only three officers accompanied Saifi from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra, where he was caught on Wednesday, to Kerala, he was taken for examination to Kozhikode medical college in a four-vehicle convoy, including a police bus full of commandos.

Besides that, a significant number of police personnel were also deployed in advance at the medical college to tighten security before the suspect was brought there.

Meanwhile, Kerala police chief Anil Kant said, "We have not started questioning him. We will begin questioning him once he is cleared for it by the medical team."

Kant also said which provisions of law, including UAPA, should be invoked against the suspect -- Shahrukh Saifi -- and whether there were others behind the fire incident, would be decided after he was questioned.

"We are happy that we were able to trace him well in time. It was due to a combined effort by the SIT, central intelligence agencies and Maharashtra police," he said.

Regarding the persons injured in the arson attack on April 2 night, the state police chief said that one of them had 35-40 per cent burns while the rest were stable.

On the night of April 2, the suspect had set fire to passengers after pouring petrol on them when the train reached Korapuzha bridge near Elathur in Kozhikode. Nine people suffered burn injuries and are undergoing treatment at various hospitals.

The bodies of a woman, an infant, and a man, who went missing from the train after the fire, were recovered from the tracks near the Elathur railway station. Police believe they fell off the train or attempted to get down after seeing the fire.

A Special Investigation Team of the Kerala police was subsequently formed to probe the incident.