NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today, May 11, conducted searches in Delhi's Shaheen Bagh in this year's April 2nd Elathur train arson attack case. The NIA  sleuths carried out the searches since morning and the raids are still underway at the locations of the suspects.

The NIA searched suspects' hiding places in the case that the anti-terror agency took over almost a month ago and began an investigation into the arrest of the "highly radicalised" suspect Shahrukh Saifi.

In response to a directive from the Ministry of Home Affairs' Counter Terrorism and Counter Radicalization (CTCR) division, the agency took over the case from the Kerala Police in mid-April.

The NIA invoked the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act based on doubts that the accused was dispatched to the state by his handlers and that he had adequate local assistance because it was a clear instance of terrorism involving numerous states.

Following the accused's filing of murder charges under Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code by a district session court in Kozhikode, who also received burn injuries during the terror act, the National Investigation Agency (NIA) took immediate action. The railway police initiated a case against him and accused him with murder.

As per officials, there was a pre-planned conspiracy behind the crime and it was not a single-man mission as confessed by the accused.
After the train arson attack case, the Anti-Terrorism Squad (ATS) of Maharashtra police and Central Intelligence detained Saifi, a 27-year-old inhabitant of Shaheen Bagh in Delhi. He had also been hurt in the assault.

When questioned by a special investigative team (SIT), Saifi gave contradicting statements, originally claiming that he was being exploited by someone before retracting and claiming that everything had been planned and carried out by him alone.

The NIA is looking into a bigger plot that Saifi, who Kerala police believe to be "highly radicalised" and who was encouraged by the incendiary talks of Islamic evangelist Zakir Naik, used to organise and carry out the arson attack.

Given that Saifi lives in Shaheen Bagh in Delhi and was apprehended in Ratnagiri, Maharashtra, the NIA is also investigating potential handlers and aides who may have been involved in this conspiracy. It is also investigating interstate connections.

The NIA had arrived at the scene of the attack shortly after it had happened to investigate the fire's origin and gather evidence for forensic examination.

On April 2, Saifi had attempted some passengers on the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express at Elathur in Kozhikode with an ignitable substance in an effort to set them on fire. While attempting to jump from the train to get away from the fire, three passengers perished. Later, Saifi was taken into custody in Ratnagiri.

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