London: A 38-year-old man, who shouted "death to Muslims" before stabbing a passenger at a south-east London Overground station, has been arrested.
British Transport Police (BTP) officers were called to Forest Hill station in south-east London last evening after receiving reports that a man had been assaulted on a train.
"The man, in his forties, was rushed to hospital with injuries consistent with having been stabbed. He remains in hospital in a serious, but not life threatening, condition, “a BTP statement said.
It said a 38-year-old man from London was arrested at the scene on suspicion of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm. "He remains in police custody," it added.
"The circumstances are being investigated but the incident is not being treated as terrorism-related at this time," it adds.
Eyewitness accounts claim that the attacker was shouting phrases like "death to Muslims" and "go back to Syria".
"This is an isolated incident and at this time is being treated as hate crime. We have no reasons to believe that it has any links to terrorism. Investigations are ongoing and officers are working to establish the circumstances around today’s events," Superintendent Jenny Gilmer said.
She said that BTP was increasing officer visibility in the area to reassure members of the public throughout London that incidents of this nature are "very rare".
