Kozhikode: The police suspect that Shahrukh Saifi, the accused in the Kozhikode train arson case, had an aide to help him execute the crime.
The aide is likely to have assisted Shahrukh in pulling the emergency brake after the fire. Shahrukh also received help while escaping from Kannur.
Since the food found in the bag of the accused was not stale, the police suspect that the food may have been prepared for him by someone.
According to the police, Shahrukh Saifi spent 15-and-half hours in Shoranur.
He reached Shoranur railway station at 4.49 am on April 2. He bought four litres of petrol in three bottles from a fuel pump located just a km away from the railway station.
The Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express, in which the attack was carried out, arrived at the station at 7 pm on the same day. The train left the station at 7:19 pm.
The cops are investigating what he did and where he went the whole day. They have collected the CCTV footage from the railway station and the petrol pump.
The police conducted a search at the petrol pump on Monday.
Sharukh to be taken to Kozhikode MCH
Meanwhile, the investigation team will take the accused to Kozhikode Medical College Hospital today for further examination for his liver ailment.
The investigation team had concluded that the accused aimed to set fire to two coaches. The group also believes that a bottle of petrol was kept in the bag for this reason. After setting fire to D1 coach, he intended to set D2 coach on fire. But as soon as the fire broke out, the passengers ran in panic and the bag placed between the two coaches fell out.
On the night of April 2, the accused barged into the D1 compartment of the Executive Express around 9.17 pm, carrying petrol in a bottle. He poured the fuel on the passengers without any provocation and lit the fire when the train reached Korapuzha bridge near Elathur.
Nine people suffered burn injuries, while the bodies of a woman, an infant, and a man were recovered later from the tracks near Elathur. Police believe they fell off the train or jumped off it after seeing the fire. The accused absconded from the spot and was later arrested by the Maharashtra ATS in Ratnagiri on Tuesday.
