A special investigation team of the Kerala Police is questioning a man who surrendered before it earlier in the day claiming responsibility for the multiple blasts at a convention centre in Kochi, even as one more person succumbed to her burn injuries, taking the death toll to two.
Police said they have found incriminating evidence, including the visuals of remote control allegedly used to detonate bomb, from the suspect’s mobile phone. His search history showed he had learned certain techniques of making bomb from YouTube, they said.
The suspect, identified as Dominic Martin, surrendered at Kodakara police station in Thrissur district in the afternoon. He has been brought to the police camp in Aluva for further interrogation.
Martin has been booked under Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act and other grave charges. Police have also searched his house in Kochi.
Three blasts shook the Zamra International Convention Centre at Kalamssery, a suburb of the port city, on Sunday morning, sending shock waves across the state. A woman was killed at the spot while over 50 others were injured, some seriously.
Hundreds of followers of Jehovah's Witnesses had assembled at the centre on the concluding day of their three-day-long prayer meeting.
According to the preliminary probe, an improvised explosive device (IED) was used to carry out the blasts, State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb told reporters.
The second woman who succumbed to her burn injuries in the evening has been identified as Kumari (53), a native of Thodupuzha. She had suffered over 90 per cent burn injuries in the explosion.
State Health Minister Veena George said that of the 52 injured, 30 were admitted in various hospitals in the state and of them 18 were in ICUs.
Of the 18, six—including a 12-year-old child—were in critical condition with three of them having suffered over 90 per cent burns, the minister said.
Prior to surrendering before the police, Martin, the suspect, had put out a video on Facebook, saying he, too, was a member of the Jehovah community, but the denomination had refused to change its ways despite multiple requests.
"Their ideology is wrong. Jehovah's Witnesses, your ideology is wrong. You do not help anyone or respect anyone. You want everyone to be destroyed, except yourself. That is your ideology," he alleged.
Martin later told police that he had sought reforms in the activities of the Christian group and that the bombs were detonated as his demands were not heeded.
Meanwhile, the police could not yet ascertain the identity of the first woman who was killed in the blasts.
The entire state has been put on high alert with police teams and security agencies conducting searches in public places including airports, bus and train stations.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called an all-party meeting on Monday.
