Three people killed and nine passengers suffered burn injuries after an unidentified person poured inflammable oil on co-passengers and set them afire inside the D-1 coach of the Alapuzha-Kannur Express around 9  pm on Sunday after the train left Kozhikode railway station in Kerala.

The deceased have been identified as Rahmath of Mattanur, her sister’s two-year old daughter Saharan and Thaufik of Mattanur. Their bodies were found on the tracks between Elathur railway station and Korapuzha Bridge near Kozhikode at 1 am on Monday.

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According to the Elathur Police, after the train reached Kannur some passengers had complained of the missing passengers. The police suspect that they may had jumped off the moving train in panic when the fire broke out.

Meanwhile, nine passengers, including three women, sustained burns. Of them, five persons were admitted to the Kozhikode medical college hospital and four were admitted to other hospitals. The condition of five, Ruby, Anil Kumar, Adwaith, Sajisha and Aswathi, who were admitted to the Kozhikode medical college hospital is stated to be serious.

According to an eye-witness, soon after the train stopped on a bridge along the Korapuzha river, a man in his thirties jumped out of it and fled on a bike that was waiting for him.

The police have recovered the assailant’s visuals from CCTV footage of a nearby house and suspected the incident to be a well-planned attack. The footage shows him talking on a phone and taking a ride  on a passing two-wheeler. He has a bag in his hand. The police are not sure whether he is the attacker. But all the indications given by the eyewitness are consistent with the person in the footage.

The Union Home Ministry is likely to conduct a detailed enquiry into the incident in which a man on Sunday night set on fire a compartment of the Alappuzha-Kannur Express after pouring some inflammable liquid at Elathur near Kozhikode in Kerala. The NIA is also likely to investigate the case.

The police said at around 9 pm on Sunday, when the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge after crossing Kozhikode city, an unidentified man wearing a red shirt and a cap poured an inflammable liquid on co-passengers and attempted to set the D1 couch on fire.

Search for the suspect is still on. With the help of crucial witness, Razik, the police decided to prepare a sketch of the accused.

A bag believed to belong to the accused was found in the rail track near Elathur. A bottle containing petrol, a note of place names, a diary written in English and Hindi, an earphone and cover, two mobile phones, a tiffin box containing food, a packet of snacks, a purse and  a t-shirt, were found in the bag. Investigators informed that these will be sent for scientific testing. The police did not rule out a terror angle as they recovered a bag from the tracks that had another bottle of petrol and two mobile phones.

Meanwhile, the police released the sketch of the suspect, who allegedly set ablaze co-passengers of Alappuzha- Kannur Executive Express on Sunday night.

The police have drawn the sketch with the help of Rashik, a passenger  who boarded the train from Feroke railway station. Rashik had informed police that he was sitting opposite the suspect in the train before the incident happened.

Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan expressed shock and grief over the train fire incident in Kozhikode and assured comprehensive investigation into the incident.

“The police have been directed to carry out a comprehensive investigation into the incident and bring the complete details of the crime before law. A special probe team will also be formulated for the investigation,” said Pinarayi Vijayan.

In this connection, Kerala Police Chief Anil Kant said that they have received information about the suspect who had poured inflammable oil on co-passengers and tried  to set them in the Alappuzha-Kannur express train on Sunday night. He added that a special investigation team would probe the incident.