In Kerala train, man sets passengers on fire, 3 dead trying to escape

Both Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Union Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw reacted to the incident. Vijayan, who also holds the Home portfolio, said a special investigation team would be formed, and the probe intensified to nab the culprit. State police chief Anil Kanth is overseeing the probe.

“The state government will take all necessary steps to ensure the safety of rail passengers. The Union Ministry of Railways would be asked to strengthen the safety of passengers,” he said.

Vaishnaw said: “I have spoken with the Kerala CM. He is constituting an SIT. The RPF, GRP and State Police are all collaborating to catch the culprits.”

Police, quoting eyewitnesses, said an unidentified person carrying two bottles entered a reserved coach at some point and set the passengers on fire “without provocation”.

As panic-stricken passengers ran to other compartments, someone pulled the chain and the train halted on a bridge across the Korapuzha river. The accused, meanwhile, escaped, and after officials sealed two compartments and sent the injured to the hospital, the train resumed its journey.

However, at this point, neither co-passengers nor authorities knew about the three deaths. Kozhikode city police commissioner Rajpal Meena said the three bodies were found on the tracks in the early hours of Monday, during an inspection of the tracks near Korapuzha following the incident.

One of the victims, Rahmath, hailed from Mattannur in Kannur and was returning home from Kozhikode along with his sister Jaseela’s daughter. Noufiq was returning from Kozhikode after attending an Iftar.

“Jaseela is pursuing a teacher training course and was supposed to be away from home for nearly three weeks, so she asked Rahmath to take care of the baby. Rahmath left Mattannur on Sunday along with a family friend, Rasiq, who sustained minor burn injuries. After breaking their fast at Chaliyam, they boarded the train to Kannur. Rasiq came to know about his missing relatives only after the train reached Koyilandy, the stop after Kozhikode,” said a relative.

Rahmath is survived by her husband S Harafudheen and son Ramshad. Zahra’s father Hussain Saqafi is away in Saudi Arabia.

Noufiq, a dry fish merchant, had gone to attend an iftar event in Malappuram. Recalled his neighbour Abdu, “He used to attend the iftar at the Islamic Centre every year as he had been close to that institute, an educational and cultural centre. After boarding the train from Kozhikode, he asked his brother-in-law to reach Kannur railway station by midnight. Late at night, we came to know that there was a fire in the executive express, but only in the morning did we find that Noufiq was no more.”

Their bodies had injuries and fractures indicative of a fall from a moving train, officials said.