Congress, BJP lash out at ruling Left in Kerala over fire on coach of halted train

The opposition Congress and the BJP on Thursday June 1 slammed the ruling Left government in Kerala over a fire incident at a train coach A coach of an express train which halted at the Kannur railway station in Kerala caught fire in the small hours of Thursday reported PTIAccording to PTI the fire erupted after all the passengers had deboarded State media reports said that no one was injured in the incidentCongress said that the government and the police were not dealing with such matters seriously and demanded a proper probe into the reasons behind such incidentsBharatiya Janata Party accused the ruling Left of encouraging and supporting religious extremists and terror groups as part of their alleged vote bank politicsBJPs Kerala unit president K Surendran in harsh criticism of the LDF government also claimed that there was peace in the state due to efforts of the Centre and its agencies as otherwise the state would have been burnt to ashes by alleged extremist and terror groups reported PTIKerala government has sacrificed national security for vote bank PTI quoted K Surendran as sayingThe train was standing stationary on a track several metres away from the platform and a Bharat Petroleum fuel depot when it caught fire at around 130 am a fire rescue officer saidOn April 2 night three people including a baby died and nine persons suffered burns when a passenger poured petrol on some passengers and set fire near Elathur in Kozhikode district in an incident that shocked the countryChairman of Indian Railways Passenger Amenities Committee PAC P K Krishnadas on Thursday said such incidents have created fear and anxiety in the general public especially those travelling by train and questioned why it was happening again and again in KeralaThe PAC is an organisation under the Railway Ministry that checks whether passenger amenities are provided on trains and at stationsKrishnadas also the National Executive Member of the BJP said that investigative agencies suspect involvement of several persons behind the latest incident Therefore people need to understand that it was not a coincidence but a planned conspiracy which all points to a coup he claimedCentral agencies reportedly arrived at the scene of the fire for evidence collection within a few hours of the incidentV D Satheesan leader of Opposition in the State Assembly said that such incidents have created insecurity in the minds of the people and that the state government needs to intervene and take steps to strengthen the safety and security measuresHe also blamed the police for its alleged lack of seriousness in dealing with such cases saying it was apparent from how the Elathur train arson incident of April 2 was handled by the Kerala PoliceStating that if the alleged carelessness on the part of the police continued then things would reach a dangerous situation he demanded a serious probe into the reasons behind recurrence of such train fire incidents Surendran did not mince words in his criticism of the Left government in the wake of the latest train fire incidentThe BJP state president claimed that such incidents indicated that religious extremists and terror groups are very active in Kerala as the state government was allegedly not taking steps to root out such organisationsThe reason is the huge vote bank that such organisations have he allegedHe also claimed that despite the ban on PFI its sleeper cells were active in the state as the ruling Left government was not willing to take strict action against them Surendran also alleged that both the Left and Congressally Indian Union Muslim League were competing with each to induct PFI leaders and workersEarlier in the day Railway police said it was yet to be determined whether sabotage was the cause of the fire or it was due to some electrical fault A forensic investigation would determine that it said An officer from Kannur Fire and Rescue Station said they received information about the incident at around 130 am and when they reached the site one of the coaches was completely engulfed in flamesVisuals of the incident aired on TV channels showed huge flames coming out from the windows of the coach with thick plumes of smoke rising into the air Four fire tenders were deployed in firefighting operations and the flames were extinguished by around 315 AM the fire rescue officer saidHe said that it was the third coach from the back which had caught fire In the April 2 incident accused Shahrukh Saifi had set his copassengers on fire onboard the AlappuzhaKannur Executive Express train when it reached Korapuzha bridge near Elathur in KozhikodeWith inputs from PTI