prelim report from the medical board

Shahrukh Saifi, 24, is suspected of setting a train on fire, and a medical board established to assess his physical and mental health status on Wednesday delivered a preliminary report to the special court hearing cases from the National Investigation Agency (NIA). The accused was examined on May 30 at Viyyur High Security Prison by the board, which consists of four doctors from Thrissur Medical College. The board was established on May 29. The NIA decided to organize a medical board since Saifi frequently complained of stomach aches, and the court ordered NIA to submit a thorough report in this regard by the end of next week. According to reports, the officers who were accompanying him said he was acting strangely and psychologically disturbed. On April 2, when the train arrived in Elathur, Saifi doused the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express’s passengers with gasoline and set a fire. Nine additional passengers suffered burn injuries, while three others perished as they leaped off the train to flee. In addition, since the same train was set on fire early on Thursday morning near Kannur, the NIA despatched a team to gather information on the incident from the local police. The NIA took over the issue since it feared it was a terrorist act. When the matter was brought before the court on Thursday for deliberation, the NIA prosecutor informed the court about the train being set afire. NIA will determine if there is a connection between these two instances. However, the court did not ask for any details regarding the event on Thursday. It added two extra weeks to Saifi’s remand time. Saifi is accused of buying gasoline in a two-liter container from a gas station close to the Shoranur train station on April 2. In order to start a fire inside the train, he bought a cigarette lighter. Following a notification from the ministry of home affairs, the NIA took up the matter, and on April 19 it re-registered the police FIR.