Kerala CM announces formation of SIT to probe train fire incident that claimed 3 lives
Thiruvananthapuram/Kozhikode (PTI): Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Monday said a Special Investigation Team (SIT) will be formed to probe the fire incident onboard a train, which led to the loss of three lives including an infant, the previous night in Kozhikode district of the state.
The accused man who set fire to the people inside one of the compartments of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express on Sunday night is yet to be identified and no arrests have been made so far in the case.
However, police suspect that the accused is a north Indian and that the incident was pre-planned as he was carrying petrol in a bottle in his bag.
A Railway Police officer said that besides them some other agencies were also looking into the matter to ascertain whether it has any terror links.
"No other details can be shared presently. The investigation is going on," the officer said. He also said a sketch of the accused based on the statement by one of the passengers has been released.
CM Vijayan, in a statement, said the police have been instructed to carry out a thorough investigation into the incident.
He said the police were actively trying to catch hold of the assailant and the probe was being supervised by State Police Chief Anil Kant.
The CM further said the state government will take strong measures to ensure the safety of rail passengers and the Ministry of Railways will be requested to take all possible steps in the matter of passenger safety.
Vijayan also condoled the death of the three persons -- a woman, her infant niece and a man -- who are believed to have fallen off the train or attempted to get down after seeing the fire.
He said it was sad and shocking to hear the loss of three lives, including that of a baby, and the burns suffered by the passengers.
Nine passengers suffered burns in the incident and are admitted in various hospitals in Kozhikode.
A case of murder has been lodged against the accused, police said earlier.
The bodies of a woman, an infant and a man, who went missing from the train after the fire, were recovered from the tracks near the Elathur railway station here, late on Sunday night.
Police believe they fell off the train or attempted to get down after seeing the fire. "A forensic team is inspecting the site," police said earlier.
It also said a bag believed to be that of the accused was recovered from the tracks and it contained a bottle of petrol.
"Besides that, there were no other clues in the bag. It is not believed to be an act of terror. There is no information or links regarding that presently," it said.
The incident occurred around 9.45 pm on Sunday, when the train reached the Korapuzha railway bridge here after crossing Kozhikode city.
Initially, it was believed that the incident was an outcome of an altercation between the accused and another passenger.
Subsequently, police and a passenger present in the compartment have said the accused did not have any altercation with anyone.
The accused poured an inflammable liquid, believed to be petrol, on the passengers and set them on fire resulting in burn injuries to nine persons, police said.
"None of the passengers said they had an altercation or argument with the accused," the Railway Police officer said.
One of the injured passengers, who suffered minor burns, told a TV channel that the man suddenly came without a word or sound and sprayed petrol on several persons and set fire to them.
"It was very unexpected. There were few people in the compartment. Everyone panicked and started running when he set fire to people," he said.
Ahammed Devarkovil, State Minister of Ports and an MLA from Kozhikode South constituency, told reporters that the incident was tragic and shocking.
He said that according to information received from police, the assailant is said to be around 25 years old.
"Police are trying to nab the accused with the help of CCTV footage," the minister said.
Former Leader of Opposition in the state assembly and senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala said there was a need to increase the security in trains and from now everyone should be checked before being permitted to board a train.
"It would be unfortunate if people cannot travel safely in trains. It is an unprecedented incident. The state and central governments should take up the issue seriously," he said.
Chennithala also claimed that the incident was an example of the ineffectiveness in the functioning of the Railway Police Force (RPF).
"The incident should open our eyes to the need for increased security in trains," he added.
Earlier in the day, Railway police said some of the injured had suffered 50 per cent burns, but their health condition was stable.
The bodies found on the tracks did not have any burns, it said.
The accused had escaped soon after the incident, while the injured were shifted to hospitals after passengers pulled the emergency chain.
When the train reached Kannur, a few passengers complained that a woman and a child were missing after the incident.
"A man, who was injured, kept looking for a woman and a child. We found footwear and a mobile phone of that woman," a passenger told the media at Kannur.
Soon after the news of the missing persons came out, the city police inspected the tracks and found three bodies, including the woman and the child and a middle-aged man.
"We have found CCTV visuals of the suspect. Investigation is on," a senior police official of the district had said.
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Pakistan must realise cross-border terrorism against India will invite consequences: India at UNGA
United Nations (PTI): In a strong retort, India has slammed Pakistan in the UN General Assembly, saying its “fingerprints" are on terrorist incidents across the world and the country should realise that cross-border terrorism against India will “inevitably invite consequences”.
India exercised its Right of Reply in the UN General Assembly on Friday in response to Pakistan Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif raising the issue of Jammu and Kashmir in his address at the General Debate of the 79th session of the UN General Assembly.
“This Assembly regrettably witnessed a travesty this morning. A country run by the military, with a global reputation for terrorism, narcotics trade and transnational crime has had the audacity to attack the world's largest democracy,” First Secretary in India’s Permanent Mission to the UN Bhavika Mangalanandan said, delivering India’s Right of Reply.
She asserted that as the world knows, Pakistan has long employed cross-border terrorism as a weapon against its neighbours.
“It has attacked our Parliament, our financial capital Mumbai, marketplaces and pilgrimage routes,” she said, referring to the 2001 Indian Parliament attack and the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks carried out by Pakistan-based terror groups.
“The list is long. For such a country to speak about violence anywhere is hypocrisy at its worst,” Mangalanandan said.
In his address, Sharif raised the Kashmir issue, as expected, and said that to “secure durable peace”, India should reverse the Abrogation of Article 370 and enter into a dialogue for a “peaceful” resolution of the issue.
He said India has spurned Pakistan’s proposals for a mutual “Strategic Restraint Regime”.
Responding to this reference “to some proposal of strategic restraint”, India asserted that there "can be no compact with terrorism. In fact, Pakistan should realise that cross-border terrorism against India will inevitably invite consequences.”
Reminding the international community that this was a nation that for long hosted Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, Mangalanandan said Pakistan’s “fingerprints are on so many terrorist incidents across the world, whose policies attract the dreads of many societies to make it their home.
“Perhaps it should come as no surprise that its prime minister would so speak in this hallowed hall. Yet we must make clear how unacceptable his words are to all of us. We know that Pakistan will seek to counter the truth with more lies. Repetition will change nothing. Our stand is clear and needs no reiteration,” she said.
India stressed that it is even more extraordinary for a country with a history of rigged elections to talk about political choices, that too in a democracy.
“The real truth is that Pakistan covets our territory, and in fact, has continuously used terrorism to disrupt elections in Jammu and Kashmir, an inalienable and integral part of India,” the young Indian diplomat said.
She said it is ridiculous that a nation that committed genocide in 1971 and which persecutes its minorities relentlessly even now, “dare speak about intolerances and phobias. The world can see for itself what Pakistan really is.”
A Pakistani diplomat went on to respond to Mangalanandan with a Right of Reply.
Describing India's assertions as "baseless and misleading", the Pakistani diplomat said the United Nations Security Council, through numerous resolutions, has unequivocally called for a free, impartial plebiscite to enable the people of Jammu and Kashmir to exercise their inalienable right to self- determination.
Every year, Pakistan’s leaders, on expected lines, make references to Jammu and Kashmir in their UNGA speeches and India fields its young diplomats to deliver hard-hitting retorts to Islamabad’s rants.
