Thiruvananthapuram, April 3 (). Hours after an unidentified person set co-passengers on fire on a moving train going to Kannur on Sunday night, the NIA has started a preliminary probe into the incident. Three passengers who jumped off the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express were found dead on the tracks. Two-year-old innocent and his aunt are also included in the dead.
According to sources, when the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express was about to cross the Korapuzha bridge between Kozhikode and Kannur at around 9.30 pm, a middle-aged man doused the passengers with petrol and set them on fire.
Nine other passengers who sustained burn injuries in the accident are undergoing treatment at a hospital in Kozhikode.
Passengers who witnessed the incident said that the perpetrator was a bearded man in a red shirt. He came from D2 compartment to D1 compartment and committed the crime.
Other passengers stopped the train by pulling its chain.
The accused then jumped off the train and disappeared under the cover of darkness.
CCTV footage on Monday morning showed the man riding a bike about 50 meters away from where he jumped off the train.
A bag and a switched off mobile phone have been recovered from the spot.
The bag contained a piece of paper with a note in English and Hindi about places in nearby Thiruvananthapuram and Kanyakumari. It also had a pair of clothes, glasses and a bottle of petrol.
State police chief Anil Kant, who is to attend a function with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in Kannur, is due to reach the accident site later in the day.
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