NEW DELHI: In the aftermath of the tragic bomb blast that occurred at a Jehovah’s Witness congregation in Kalamassery, Kerala’s Kochi on Sunday, police authorities have put forth multiple statements regarding the incident.
Sources confirmed that Dominic Martin, the lone accused in the Kalamassery blast case has confessed that he had used 50 ‘gundu’ (a type of firecracker) and eight litres of petrol in the blast at the Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer meeting at Kalamassery in Kochi.
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Mos Rajeev Chandrashekhar speaks to the The New IndianHe responds to CM Vijayan’s allegations that BJP leaders and a Union Minister are communalizing the blast in Kochi.
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In his statement to the police, he claimed that he set fire to the ‘gundu’ by operating the improvised explosive device (IED). The National Security Guards team has recovered the remains of the circuit that was used for the blast.
Martin has disclosed that he concealed the explosives in plastic bags in the hall. Police have obtained certain visuals from his phone as evidence for the allegations. Martin allegedly planted the explosives at six different locations inside the hall with the intention of causing harm to the attendees of the Jehovah’s Witnesses convention.
He purchased 50 ‘gundu’ from a firecracker shop at Thrippunithura, in the Ernakulam district of Kerala. During the police interrogation, he revealed that he spent Rs 3,000 to make the bomb and learned how to make the electric detonator from YouTube videos.
Following the explosion, Martin turned himself in at the Kodakara police station in Thrissur, taking responsibility for planting the IED at the Convention Centre. He confessed to having placed the explosive device at the convention centre. Martin is purportedly affiliated with the evangelical Christian community.
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The explosions led to the demise of one woman, with an additional 52 individuals sustaining injuries. Among the 52 injured, 18 are currently in the intensive care unit (ICU), and 10 have been hospitalised in standard wards. Six individuals are in a critical state.
Four synchronised explosions were recorded near the Yahova Convention Centre, a venue where Kerala’s Christian community typically congregates for religious worship and discussions.
In the last few days, the group had been conducting a condolence prayer gathering in solidarity with Israel, which is involved in a conflict with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Attendees at the prayer gathering recounted that the initial blast occurred precisely as the prayers commenced. They further mentioned hearing two additional explosions within the vicinity.