Train Arson Attack Prime Suspect Arrested in Ratnagiri

Shahrukh Saifi was arrested by the Maharashtra Anti-Terrorism Squad and Kerala Police on Wednesday in Ratnagiri. Shahrukh is the prime suspect in the arson attack in the Kozhikode train arson case. Nobody in Shahrukh Saifi’s Shaheen Bagh neighborhood in southeast Delhi suspected him of being anything other than a reclusive young man who kept to himself and did not engage much with the locals.

Even his own family did not accuse Saifi of having antisocial tendencies, but after he vanished on March 31, Saifi’s father reported him missing to the local police station out of worry. A family member revealed that the police came to their house asking for him around 10 am on Tuesday. They then came back on Wednesday to inform them of his detention and further searched his room and belongings. They took with them a few documents as well.

Investigation from Delhi and Kerala Police on Attack

 As police from Kerala and Delhi started their hunt for the accused arsonist who started the fire on the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express that killed three persons, including a toddler, Saifi’s home was searched multiple times. The Delhi Police have also started investigating Saifi’s background and figuring out his alleged network.

Saifi resides in a three-room house on the first floor of a home in FC Block in Shaheen Bagh with his two younger brothers, parents, and grandmother. According to his father, Fakhruddin, the family found it difficult to understand that their son was involved in such a serious matter because he had never before traveled to another state.

The family resided in that neighborhood for almost 15 years and this was the first time Shahrukh traveled outside Delhi according to Fakhruddin. He also added that Shahrukh rarely engages with anyone outside the family and prefers to stick to himself usually. 

Saifi departed with his father for their carpenter shop in Nithari village in Noida Sector 31 every morning. The father said that on Friday, even though his son Shahrukh informed him that he would arrive late to their store, he failed to show up. Seeing this he called his elder son Farooq who told him that Shahrukh had already left home according to Rasula, a relative of theirs. 

Saifi’s family reported him missing on April 2 after being unable to find him for three days, only to discover later that he had been taken into custody in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra. Saifi, according to Fakhruddin, began working with him at the carpenter company after completing Class XII at a government institution. He had no prior convictions and was not a member of any organizations or political parties. 

Saifi was characterized as a recluse by the locals. They asserted that they never overheard him converse with anyone and that he only ever left the house to visit the store. Resident Faheem said he was surprised to learn that Saifi had been detained because he never loitered around aimlessly like the other youths or engaged in much socializing with neighbors. In the 14 years that Sarfaraz had lived on the lane, he too said Saifi had never spoken to him. There were a few more who insisted they had never even seen him.

With the aid of the Maharashtra ATS and Central intelligence services, Shahrukh Saifi was apprehended in Ratnagiri. The police learned that the suspect went to a hospital in Ratnagiri for treatment after suffering head and face injuries. 

Nine passengers suffered burn injuries, and three people—including a child—were said to have perished after jumping from a speeding train to escape the fire. The culprit, Shahrukh Saifi, who lit many passengers on fire inside the D1 compartment of the Alappuzha-Kannur Express at Elathur in Kozhikode on Sunday night, was sought after by police in a major search. Around 9.30 p.m., the accused doused numerous passengers in flammable liquid and lit them ablaze.