Fear has gripped the state, and issues are being raised concerning the security of atypical prepare travellers. (File pic: ANI)
It is excessive time the judiciary takes suo motu cognisance of the fear menace to the nation and places in place a everlasting nationwide multi-disciplinary investigation association into all instances of suspected terror dimension
Keralites have been shocked to study that on April 3, 2023, three individuals, together with a toddler, have been killed and 9 others acquired burn accidents after an unidentified particular person poured petrol on fellow passengers and set them afire contained in the D1 coach of the Alappuzha-Kannur Executive Express at Elathur in Kozhikode at about 9.45 PM. One of the passengers who suffered minor burn accidents acknowledged that the person got here instantly with out a phrase or sound, sprayed petrol on the unsuspecting passengers, and set them ablaze. There was panic and passengers have been working helter-skelter. In the melee, the suspect made good his escape.
The accused, later recognized as Shahrukh Saifi, was apprehended in Ratnagiri district in Maharashtra, about 1,000 kilometres north of Kerala, and was dropped at Kozhikode by the police. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police has been set as much as probe the incident. The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has stepped into the probe suspecting a terror angle. The Railway Protection Force (RPF) can also be concerned within the investigation.
The unstable political environment of Kerala went right into a tizzy, with debates raging, some suspecting a botched terror plot, others suspecting an try harking back to the Godhra prepare burning of February 27, 2002. Either means, concern has gripped the state, and issues are being raised concerning the security of atypical prepare travellers. While ministers, choose politicians and bureaucrats get pleasure from intensive safety cowl at taxpayers’ expense, the frequent man is totally uncovered and intensely susceptible to armed violence, incendiary explosions and sabotages. Rail safety stands on a completely completely different footing from air safety. Passenger visitors within the Indian rail sector within the yr 2022 stood at 3.52 billion. The Indian Railways (IR) manages the fourth largest nationwide railway system on this planet by dimension, with a complete route size of 68,043 km (42,280 mi), working observe size of 102,831 km (63,896 mi) and observe size of 128,305 km (79,725 mi) as of March 31, 2022. The entire community of the IR throughout the nation has 7,083 stations. Providing end-to-end safety for rail passengers and freight is solely not possible or viable. The threat issue is big and can proceed to stay so.
The downside within the immediate case is the speedy political color the case is taking. People genuinely suspect {that a} native investigation shall be an eye-wash, because the non secular id of the suspect could have an amazing bearing to forestall a free and honest investigation. The state, which is already agitated over points like love jihad, narcotics jihad, and land jihad, doesn’t belief the current political dispensation to do a full and unbiased investigation and produce all of the information to the general public area. There is nice unease amongst completely different communities concerning the proliferation of terror teams, gold smuggling, suspected Hawala funding and the rising drug dependancy among the many younger era. All these points haven’t seen any type of finality in case investigation, prosecution and even cessation of recurrences. In such a surcharged environment, there’s a deep concern that the current train-burning incident is unlikely to make any headway.
The information out there within the public area, as of immediately, reveal that the suspect along with his lethal consignment, by no means encountered any hitch in boarding the prepare and doing his dastardly act. Affected passengers have been making an attempt to flee away from the scene to avoid wasting themselves, therefore completely no try to apprehend the wrongdoer. In truth, he seems to have travelled for fairly a distance on board the prepare, with out anyone even questioning the burn marks and disfigurement on his face. He appears to have gotten out of the prepare with the identical ease with which he boarded, to get medical consideration for his accidents. This makes individuals genuinely suspect that there might need been different accomplices on board the prepare. One factor that stands out manifestly is the entire security-free setting prevailing on the rail community.
Be that as it might, what’s extra necessary is the investigation standing and the company which going to deal with it. The Indian authorized framework is so difficult and time-consuming that there’s adequate time for the villains to erase proof, escape from the nation in addition to fabricate an alibi. Already there are legal professionals who’re claiming that the suspect is mentally unsound, questioning the id, and the suspect has additionally denied any involvement. Security companies are wrangling as to who ought to examine. By the time these points are sorted out, the case shall be in limbo, for a substantial size of time, thereby making all investigations meaningless and otiose.
It is excessive time the judiciary takes suo-motu cognisance of the fear menace to the nation and places in place a everlasting nationwide multi-disciplinary investigation association into all instances of suspected terror dimension.
The writer is IRS (Rtd), Ph.D. (Narcotics), Former Director General, National Academy of Customs, Indirect Taxes & Narcotics (NACIN). Views expressed are private.
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