Three weeks after a man from Tamil Nadu was arrested in Odisha on November 12 from Puri railway station for allegedly setting on fire five train coaches, the state government had asked the central government to involve National Investigating Agency (NIA) in the probe on Thursday.
DGP K B Singh told OTV, “The Puri incident is not a solitary one. Before this, similar kind of incidents occurred in Gaya, Kharagpur and Hyderbad. We decided to seek cooperation from the NIA as it is a specialized agency to deal such type of cases.”
However, there weren’t any reports of casualty due to this incident.
Earlier it was known that the accused Subash Ramachandran (35) confounded the police by making contradictory statements of accomplices and even a terror angle.
Ramachandran would enter empty coaches, tear open the seats off their rexine covers, pour the chemicals over the seats and then set them on fire.
Following the incident, The Telegraph quoted Singh saying, "While he earlier told us that he had met some suspicious elements in Calcutta, he is now telling us that he met two of his associates in Odisha. However, he could not furnish their identities."
Police officials said that their investigation has showed that Ramachandran, and his accomplices if indeed they exist, used cheap gun-powder and other chemicals which are used to make fireworks. Earlier, media reports stated that intelligence officials have gathered from his family in Tirunelveli that he had also attempted suicide 5 years ago. Even as the police continue to probe, they have got a go-ahead from the court for a polygraph test on him.
Earlier, media reported that his family told intelligence officials about how he attempted suicide 5 years ago.