The accused in the recent fire incident onboard a train in Kerala's Kozhikode is highly radicalised and is an ardent follower of the controversial Islamic preacher Zakir Naik, police said on Monday. Head of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police investigating the case, MR Ajith Kumar, said that the accused Sharukh Saifi has been charged under Section 16 of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA).
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) Kumar told media persons here that the investigation had revealed clearly that Sharukh had committed the crime of arson and that he used to watch videos of radical religious preachers like Zakir Naik and Israr Ahmed.
"Sharukh was charged with UAPA Section 16 yesterday on the basis of evidence gathered in the Investigation. Within two weeks the investigation team was able to find out necessary evidence in the case," Ajith Kumar said.
"Sharuk Saifi is a radical person. He used to watch on a continuous basis videos of radicals like Sakeer Naik and Isra Ahamed. He arrived in Kerala after planning this attack," he added. The police official said that the investigation was being conducted in collaboration with other investigation agencies in the country including central agencies.
"The case was registered by Railway Police. The investigation was done in other states as well. The Kerala Police have done this investigation with the police of other states and with central agencies," the ADGP said.
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Ajith Kumar said the investigation was going on to find out whether the accused had received any assistance from others in committing the offence. Three people were killed and around ten others sustained injuries in the fire incident that took place inside the moving Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express train on April 2 near Elathur in Kozhikode district.
Saifi was detained in Maharashtra`s Ratnagiri on April 4 night by the Anti-Terrorism Squad of Maharashtra police with the help of National Investigation Agency (NIA). He was then handed over to Kerala Police. Handwritten notes of Saifi were also found in which he allegedly said, "Let`s do it".
