NIA likely to takeover Kerala train fire investigation


New Delhi: A week after the train fire incident in which Delhi youth Shahrukh Saifi has been arrested, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) is likely to take over the investigation.

According to sources, even the SIT team led by top Kerala ADGP M.R. Ajithkumar continues to question 24-year-old Saifi, after getting him in their custody on Friday (April 7), not much headway appears to have been made.

What has to be noted is that the Centre appears to be unhappy with the ongoing SIT probe. Union Minister V. Muraleedharan slammed the Kerala Police for its “inefficiency” and said the only thing that the police did after the incident that took place on April 2 was to drive the culprit back to the state and that too without proper security arrangement from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra.

Incidentally, Saifi after setting ablaze a few passengers by dousing them with petrol in the moving train on April 2 night travelled on the same train to Kannur and after a few hours boarded another train from there and got down at Ratnagiri.