Team News Riveting
Kochi, October 29
A person identified as ex-Jehovah’s witnesses Dominic Martin has claimed responsibility for the Kalamassery blasts in Kerala and has surrendered before the Police.
On his Facebook Live broadcast, Martin defended his act as a warning against the “anti-national” nature of Jehovah’s Witnesses, a Christian sect of which he claims to be a long-time member. Before surrendering, Dominic had posted a video on social media that has now been taken down.
“You all may have taken note of something that happened today. There was a bomb blast at a Jehovah’s Witnesses convention. I don’t know what exactly happened, but I know that it happened for sure and I take full responsibility for that. I was the one who executed the bomb blast there,” Martin said in the broadcast. Stating that he was posting the video to explain the reason behind his act, he said that he was with the group for 16 years.
Martin said: “Six years ago, I realised that the organisation was on the wrong track. They teach anti-national ideas and I have tried multiple times to rectify this, but none of them were ready to change. Living in this country, they teach that the country’s people are deplorable and that members should not mingle with them.”
After the broadcast, the Kochi native surrendered at the Kodakara police station in Thrissur. The police stated that the man identified himself as Dominic Martin, and according to reports, he arrived at the police station around 1.30 pm claiming that he was previously part of Jehovah’s Witnesses and that he placed the explosive devices at the convention because he was disillusioned by the group’s partisan, anti-national ideologies.
Dominic was arrested by the police and is being questioned. Police teams also reached his house in Kochi and are questioning his wife. According to sources, Dominic submitted videos to the police of the IEDs and how he allegedly executed the blasts.
Additional Director General of Police (ADGP) M R Ajith Kumar said that the man surrendered at the police station taking responsibility for the blasts and submitted some evidence. “He claims that he was a believer of Jehovah’s Witnesses. We are examining his claim and the evidence he submitted,” he said. He alleged that children were being taught many “vile” things by the organisation, such as that they must not “eat toffees given by classmates” and anti-national things.
Two persons were killed while over 30 people were injured in the blast. Of which, 18 were admitted at Intensive Care Units of various hospitals. Health Minister Veena George had said that the conditions of six people were critical, and three of them were on ventilator support. It included a 12-year-old child.
