NIA files charge sheet in Kerala Train Arson case with three fatalities

According to a spokesperson from the NIA, on Friday, charges were filed against Shahrukh, also known as Sharukh Saifi, 27, under multiple sections of the IPC, UA (P) Act, the Railways Act, and the PDPP Act

New Delhi: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) on Saturday said that it filed a charge sheet against the sole accused in the Kerala train arson case, in which three passengers, including a child, were killed and nine others injured.

A NIA spokesperson here said that the agency has filed charge sheet against Shahrukh aka Sharukh Saifi, 27, on Friday under various sections of the IPC, UA (P) Act, the Railways Act, and the PDPP Act.

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Shahrukh is accused of committing the terror act by setting the D1 coach of Alappuzha– Kannur Executive Express on fire on April 2 this year.

In its charge sheet, the anti-terror probe agency alleged that Shahrukh was the sole accused in the gory case, as he had thrown and sprinkled petrol on the passengers and set the coach on fire with a lighter with the intention to kill people.

The official said that Shahrukh, a resident of Delhi’s Shaheen Bagh area had boarded the moving Alappuzha- Kannur Executive Express, committed the terror act, and continued to travel in the same train till Kannur, before escaping to Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, from where he was eventually arrested.

The official said that its probe revealed that he had travelled to Kerala from New Delhi on March 31 and reached the state on April 2. “He purchased petrol from a petrol bunk in Shoranur and a lighter from a nearby store at Shoranur Railway Station,” the official said, adding that he had chosen Kerala for the act involving terror and arson as he wanted to commit his Jihadi act in a location where he would not be recognised.

“He had intended to return to normal life after the commission of the act, aimed at creating terror in the minds of the general public. He was self-radicalised through various online propaganda material available on social media in favour of violent extremism and Jihad, as propagated by radical Islamic preachers of Indian and foreign nationalities,” the official said.

It also said that in this process, he followed radical and hardline Islamic preachers including those who are Pakistan-based, on social media platforms. “He had committed the arson as a Jihadi terror act in pursuance of the online radicalisation,” the official said.

A case was registered at Kozhikode Railway Police Station in Kerala and later by Special Investigation Team, Kerala. On April 17, the NIA took over the case on orders from the MHA. During the course of its investigations, NIA conducted searches in 10 locations in Delhi and seized digital devices. Several witnesses were questioned and CCTV footage from the Railway Station were also seized.