Kerala train arson case: Witness's father from Shaheen Bagh found hanging in Kochi hotel

Kochi: Muhammad Shafi (46), of Shaheen Bagh, New Delhi, was found dead by hanging on Friday morning in a hotel room. He arrived in Kochi after his son Muhammad Monis was called by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) for questioning regarding the April 2 train arson case.

Monis was questioned by the NIA on Thursday, and they asked him to return on Friday at 10 am for more questioning. However, in their Kochi hotel room's bathroom, his father was found dead. Police from South Kochi examined the hotel room and started an investigation into the death.

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Monis reportedly received a summons from the NIA for questioning about his alleged connections to Sharukh Saifi, the main suspect in the Kozhikode train fire case. 

Police said the witness was summoned by the NIA as part of its probe. The witness had appeared before the agency on May 17 and 18.

"He (Shafik) and his son reached the state to record their statement in the case. The statement recording was complete and they were planning to go back to Delhi. But his son saw him hanging inside the bathroom," a senior police official told PTI.

Meanwhile, the Kerala government on Thursday suspended senior IPS officer P Vijayan, the former head of the state's ATS unit, in connection with the alleged leak of information regarding the transportation of the Elathur train arson case accused from Ratnagiri in Maharashtra to Kozhikode district of the southern state.

The suspension decision states that the action was taken in response to a report provided by ADGP Law and decision M R Ajith Kumar that the disclosure of the accused person's transportation-related information constituted a severe security lapse.

On April 5, Saifi was apprehended in Ratnagiri, three days after the night of April 2, when the train arrived at the Korapuzha bridge near Elathur in the Kozhikode district and he reportedly lit people on fire after dousing them in fuel.

Three persons -- a woman, an infant, and a man -- died in the incident after they fell down from the train in their attempt to escape from the fire. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala police was subsequently formed to probe the incident.

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