RAILWAY SAMACHAR

Accused in the 1996 train blast commits suicide

Ghaziabad : Shakeel, accused in the 1996 bomb blast in frontier mail train and lodged in Dasna district jail, today committed suicide by hanging himself in his high-security barrack in the prison today june 19.

He hanged himself with the help of a loop made of cloth and was taken to district hospital where he was declared brought dead, Jail Superintendent V K Singh said, adding the body has been sent for postmortem.

Shakeel was facing criminal trial for his alleged involvement in the 1996 bomb blasts in the frontier mail train in Ghaziabad , he said.

He was arrested in 1999 and was kept in Tihar jail in Delhi. In September 2006, he was shifted to Dasna district jail.

Shakeel was facing trial under various sections of IPC and explosives act. His family, residing in Philakuwa town of the district, has been informed about the incident, Singh said.

Meanwhile, District Magistrate R Ramesh Kumar has ordered a magisterial probe in the matter. Two persons were killed in the blast which occurred in the train here in 1996.