NIA raids several locations in Shaheen Bagh in Kozhikode train arson case
The National Investigation Agency on Thursday conducted searches at 10 locations in and around Shaheen Bagh in Delhi in connection with the Kozhikode train arson case, according to media reports.
Three passengers were killed and nine injured in the incident on April 2. Rahmath M (42), her two-year-old niece Zahra, and KP Noufiq (39) died after they jumped off the Alleppey Kannur Executive Express trying to escape the fire and save their lives, reported The Print.
Among the properties searched during the exercise were those of accused Shahrukh Saifi and various other suspects, reported The Hindu.
It was on April 6, when Saifi, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, was arrested for allegedly committing the arson, reported the daily. During the searches, the agency seized several digital devices, including mobile phones, laptop and hard disk, along with documents, reported The Print.
“NIA’s probe so far has revealed that Shahrukh Saifi was a follower of various radical Islamic preachers, including Zakir Naik, Pakistan-based Tariq Jamil, Israr Ahamed and Taimoor Ahmed,” the agency said in the statement, reported The Print.
Saifi was apprehended by the Maharashtra Anti-Terror Squad from Ratnagiri. A resident of Shaheen Bagh, Saifi started working as a carpenter after he completed Class 12 from an open school. On 17 April, the NIA took over the probe from the Kerala Police, reported The Print.
Saifi’s father Fakarrudin, a carpenter by profession, had earlier said his son had left home on March 31, saying he had some work in Nithari’s Sector 31 in Noida, but did not return, reported News 18.
He lodged a missing person’s complaint at the Shaheen Bagh police station on April 2.
However, three days later, on April 5, a team of Kerala Police knocked on the door of Saifi’s house and told the family members about the train incident, leaving them in shock, reported the portal.
According to police, the oldest of three brothers, Saifi lives with his parents, siblings and grandmother in their two-storey home in a narrow unpaved lane of Shaheen Bagh, reported the media.
“He has been charged with setting on fire the D1 coach of the Alleppey Kannur Executive Express, leading to the tragic death of a child and two others,” the official said, reported The Rediff.
The spokesperson said the case was registered at the Kozhikode Railway Police Station in Kerala and it was taken over by the NIA on April 17.
