Kerala train fire | Investigation into arson attack case in preliminary stages, says ADGP
The Hindu
Investigation into the arson attack inside a coach of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express at Kozhikode in Kerala is in its preliminary stages
Investigation into the arson attack inside a coach of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express at Kozhikode in Kerala on Sunday is in its preliminary stages, M.R. Ajith Kumar, Additional Director-General of Police (Law and Order) M.R. Ajith Kumar has said.
He told the media on Tuesday morning that more information could be provided only after further inquiry. Three persons were killed when they jumped out of the moving train and nine others suffered burns after the incident.
Mr. Kumar was here to attend the first meeting of a special investigation team set up to inquire into the episode. Replying to a question, he said that a coordinated effort was being made along with other agencies to nab the culprit.
It is learnt that a police team has reached Noida in Uttar Pradesh to find out the whereabouts of the prime suspect in the case. Earlier, the police had released a drawing based on the eye-witness accounts of the suspect’s physical features.
Meanwhile, G.M. Eswara Rao, Inspector-General, Railway Protection Force, and Principal Chief Security Commissioner, South Central Railway, said in Kannur that security in railway stations would be strengthened in the wake of the incident.
He visited the D1 and D2 coaches of the train. Terming the incident as unfortunate, Mr. Rao said that the functioning of closed-circuit television cameras would be made more effective and luggage scanners would be set up at more railway stations.
Mr. Rao said that the staff shortage in the Palakkad Division of Southern Railway during the daytime was found to be affecting security measures there. Technology would be utilised to overcome this.