Kozhikode: The mystery surrounding the events that took place within 12 kilometres covered in 14 minutes still baffles the police investigating the arson on Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express.
Three train passengers, including a toddler and her aunt, were found dead by the railway tracks near the Elanthur Railway Station in the district late on Sunday, April 2, after a man indiscriminately splashed an inflammable liquid on passengers and lit a fire. Nine others suffered burns in the incident.
A smokescreen has been concealing the series of incidents that shook the collective conscience of Kerala. The passengers said the suspect was not known to them. Why would a man try to endanger the lives of strangers? Where did he come from? And where did he disappear?
The mystery continues. The police have on Monday constituted an 18-member Special Investigation Team (SIT) to unravel the mystery.
A sketch of the suspect prepared based on the description provided by the passengers was released around noon. Multiple investigation agencies are looking at various possible angles.
The majority of passengers on Train No:16307 Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express are regular commuters. It has been suspected that someone who knew about the regularly crowded train must be behind the attack.
The train, normally, will be crowded till Kozhikode but will be almost empty during the rest of the trip to Kannur.
The train departed from Kozhikode Railway Station at 9.13 pm towards its next halt at Koyilandi. It does not stop at four stations, including Elathur, en route.
The train breezed past the Elathur station at 9.25 pm. The bridge on Korappuzha is half a kilometre from the station.
The attacker made a fire in the D-1 coach of the train as it entered the bridge. Several seats in the reserved coach were unoccupied, and it has been established the attacker had not booked a seat.
Though no one knows when he had boarded the train, Raziq, a prime witness, reportedly indicated to the police that he had seen him near the toilet when he boarded the train from Farook railway station.
Most passengers were dozing when the train chugged into the night and they were startled when the liquid fell on them. They found a man in a red shirt splashing the liquid on passengers seated on either side of the aisle. Before they could realise what was happening, a blaze was sparked.
As the fire raged, passengers scampered to the safety of the adjacent coaches. The train was moving on the bridge. Several passengers asserted that the incident happened after the train had crossed Elathur.
Someone pulled the emergency train to stop the train. Since the coach was on the bridge, passengers had a tough time taking the injured out. It has been suspected that the attacker escaped during the melee. Many raised the suspicion that he might have dived into the river.
The train pulled into the Koyilandi Railway Station behind schedule. And Raisq realised two others who had been with him were missing. The train left Koyilandi at 10.35 pm.
The police and railway authorities launched a search for the missing duo. Those fishing in Korappuzha near the railway bridge dispelled the suspicion that they might have fallen into the river.
The loco pilot of the train that followed the Executive Express provided the breakthrough. He reported sighting dead bodies between Elathur station and the bridge across Korappuzha. The search parties soon found the bodies and a bag.
Incidentally, none of the passengers had seen the dead trio jumping out of the train. It has not been confirmed if the bag found by the railway track belonged to the arsonist.
