Claiming responsibility for the bomb blast at the convention centre in Kalamassery, Kochi native Dominic Martin has surrendered himself before the police.

Martin, a former member of the evangelist group Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before the Kodakara Police Station in Thrissur within a few hours of the blast in Kochi on Sunday morning. He is currently undergoing detailed interrogation by the police.

The blast claimed one life and left scores of worshippers injured at the prayer meeting on Sunday morning.

FB video

Prior to his surrender, Dominic Martin made a Facebook video in which he claimed responsibility for the blast, saying he had been a member of Jehova Witnesses for the last 16 years and was not happy with the activities of the organisation. He got disenchanted with the group’s teachings in 2017. He alleged that the organisation is propagating anti-national sentiments.

MR Ajith Kumar, Additional Director General of Police (Law & Order), said that investigation officers are verifying the integrity of the suspect’s claim. The police are looking into the time stamp of the video to determine whether the creator posted it before or after the blast.

Kerala on alert

Following the explosion, Kerala Police have issued an alert and are patrolling various areas with the potential for crowds, like bus stations, railway stations, convention centres, shopping malls, markets, tourist locations, places of worship, etc.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called an all-party meeting on October 30 to mitigate the fraught social climate precipitated by the bomb blast.

According to Shaik Darvesh Saheb, DGP, Kerala Police, the accused had used an improvised explosive device (IED) for the blast.

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