Police Commissioner A Akbar briefed the media about the charges under which the main accused of the Kerala blast has been arrested. He said, “Dominic Martin’s arrest was recorded at 7 pm. He will be produced in court within the stipulated time. He has been charged under sections of Explosive Substances Act and UAPA. As of now, we are convinced that this is a single man’s act. But we are looking into more details.”
Dominic Martin surrendered after claiming responsibility for carrying multiple blasts in Ernakulum district of the state during a religious prayer event a day ago at the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kalamassery where over 2,000 followers of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian sect, had gathered for a prayer meeting on Sunday.
Multiple explosions took place at a prayer meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Kalamassery area of Kochi at around 9:00 a.m. on Sunday. Meanwhile, the death toll in the twin blasts at the Zamra International Convention and Exhibition Centre rose to three after a 12-year-old girl, identified as Libina from Malayattoor, succumbed to her injuries in the early hours of Monday.
A man identified as Dominic Martin posted a video on Facebook later on Sunday, claiming responsibility for the attacks.He later surrendered at the Kodakara police station in Thrissur. The police, however, said that they were still in the process of verifying Martin’s claims.
Pinarayi Vijayan, the Chief Minister of Kerala on Monday convened an all-party meeting following the incident of blasts.The all-party meeting was organised in the State Secretariat in the state capital Thiruvananthapuram.
The all-party meeting adopted a resolution for social unity and also appealed people of Kerala to stand united against attempts to malign the image of the state.
The resolution said that Kerala was a peaceful and harmonious state.”At the same time, we know there are people who are intolerant of Kerala’s social situation and want to eliminate it in one sweep. This meeting wants to make clear that the state will go ahead, overcoming such isolated attempts at disintegration,” the resolution said.
“A situation of spreading hatred against a faith, or of viewing a community or a person with suspicion cannot be allowed. The forces that try to whip up such thoughts of disintegration should be seen as common enemies of our country and our people. All political parties and individuals are committed to taking this thought to society,” the resolution said.
It also urged people to not pay heed to rumours. Among the attendees were Congress leader VT Belram, IUML leader PK Kunjalikutty, NCP leader PC Chacko, Kerala Congress leader Monce Joseph, JDS leader Mathew T Thomas, CPI leader P Sudheer, BJP leader C Krishna Kumar and ministers K Rajan, Roshi Augustin, Antony Raju, A K Sasindran, Kadannapally Ramachandran, CPI (M) state secretary M V Govindan and opposition leader V D Satheesan.
