Elathur train arson case: After NIA summons son, father found dead in hotel room
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The father of a man who had been summoned by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for interrogation in connection with the Elathur train arson case was found dead in a hotel room in Kochi on Friday, May 19, morning.
Mohammed Shafeeq, 45, a resident of Shaheen Bagh, Jamia Nagar in South Delhi, was found hanging in the bathroom of a hotel along K.P. Vallon Road in Kadavanthra.
“The death had occurred in the early morning hours and is suspected to be a case of suicide. We have registered a case for unnatural death,” said Ernakulam Town South police sources.
His son Mohammed Monis was questioned by the NIA on Thursday and was summoned for further questioning on the next day. Shafeeq arrived in Delhi to file his statement in the case with his son. Both of them had checked into the hotel on Tuesday.
On Friday at around 6 a.m., Monis alerted the hotel authorities after his father was not to be seen and the bathroom was found locked from inside. Though they broke open the bathroom door and rushed him to a nearby hospital, he was declared brought dead.
Reportedly, Monis was the classmate of Shahrukh Saifi, the Elathur arson case accused. The two had continued to maintain contact over social media platforms.
It is learned that NIA had summoned him to find out whether anyone had inspired the accused into the arson.
Last week, NIA officers conducted search operations at around 10 locations in and around the Shaheen Bagh area in connection with the case. The search locations included properties of Shahrukh Saifi, who is the prime suspect in the case, and various other suspects, a report quoting NIA said.
The arson attack took place on the Alappuzha Kannur Express train on April 2, as the train was approaching Elathur station in Kozhikode district. The suspect, Shahrukh Saifi, allegedly sprayed petrol on the passengers and set fire. Three people, including a two-year-old child, who allegedly alighted the moving train in panic, died in the incident. Their bodies were later recovered from the railway tracks. The deceased persons are Noufeeq, Rahmat, and two-year-old Zahra.
Two days later, Saifi, a native of Shaheen Bagh, was taken into custody by the Maharashtra police on suspicions of having committed the arson attack. He was initially sent to the custody of the Kerala police. However, the NIA later took over the probe.
Meanwhile, Inspector General of Police P Vijayan was suspended on Thursday for the alleged leak of information about the transportation of Saifi from Maharashtra to Kochi.
Vijayan and another police officer, who were not part of the team transporting Saifi, had allegedly contacted the officers accompanying the accused.