Kochi: Muhammad Shafi (46) from Shaheen Bagh, Delhi was found hanging at a hotel room on Friday morning.
He had reached Kochi after the National Investigation Aagency (NIA) summoned his son Muhammad Monis for interrogation in connection with the Kozhikode train arson of April 2.
NIA had quizzed Monis on Thursday and had asked him to appear for interrogation again on Friday at 10 am. Monis' father, however, was found hanging inside the washroom of their hotel room in Kochi.
The body has been shifted to the mortuary for post-mortem. Kochi South Police inspected the hotel room and initiated a probe into Shafi's death.
The NIA reportedly summoned Monis for interrogation over his alleged links with Sharukh Saifi, the key accused in the Kozhikode train arson case.
On the night of April 2, around 9.17 pm, Sharukh Saifi barged into the D1 compartment of the Executive Express, carrying a bottle filled with petrol.
He poured the fuel on the passengers in the compartment without any provocation and set them ablaze when the train was over the 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.
According to the police, they may have fallen off the train or jumped off it upon seeing the fire. The accused fled the spot and was later arrested from Ratnagiri on April 4 by the Maharashtra anti-terrosrism squad.
