Three persons, including a 12-year-old girl, were killed in an explosion that occurred during a Christian religious gathering on Sunday in the town of Kalamassery in Kerala’s Ernakulam district. Around fifty more people were hurt, some critically, in the series of explosions that occurred at the international convention centre, where Jehovah’s Witnesses were assembled on the last day of a three-day prayer meeting.
A man who claimed responsibility for the explosion turned himself in to the Kerala Police not long after the tragedy. A video statement claiming responsibility for the destruction was posted on a social media platform by Dominic Martin, who was identified.
Ajith Kumar, the Kerala ADGP (law and order), confirmed this to the media, saying that the man’s psychological conditions are also being watched and that his team was checking out the man’s statements. He assured that every facet of the case will be carefully investigated.
However, what is known about Martin and his motivation for detonating the IED? This is what we currently know.
Family man
Martin stated in his video, which was distributed by news outlets, that he had been a Jehovah’s Witness for the last sixteen years. In the video, he said that he had made the choice because the organization’s doctrines were “seditious.”
“I joined them at the time as a joke and did not take it seriously. I knew they were a bad outfit and that their beliefs were seditious about six years ago,” he claimed.
He asserted that despite his repeated requests, the group was unwilling to modify its teachings. “I made this decision because I had no other choice,” the man argued.
In his video, he went on to say that the Jehovah’s Witnesses’ philosophy was false and that the state needed to put an end to it because it posed a threat to national security.
“Their worldview is incorrect. Jehovah’s Witnesses: your worldview is incorrect. You show no respect or assistance to anyone. Except for yourself, you want everyone to be annihilated. That is your philosophy, he said.
“They inject poison into the brains of children that they should not take even a sweet from others,” he was quoted as saying by The Indian Express. They are requested not to enlist in the armed forces or perform the national anthem. They preach that only they will survive and that everyone else will perish. What should we do about those who wish for everyone on the planet to perish? I was unable to figure anything out.
Martin lives in a two-bedroom house at Khader Lane with his wife and two children – a son and a daughter – for the past five years.
His family and his landlord expressed shock when they came to know that he had claimed responsibility for the horrific incident. Sakkir Thammanam, the local councillor, said that his wife believed that he was going to meet a friend at the time when he went to plant the explosives at the convention centre.
Their landlord, Jaleel, claimed responsibility for the explosion and also expressed surprise upon seeing Martin’s video. He didn’t like to cause trouble. He had few friends, but he also had no adversaries. In light of our conversations with his wife, it’s possible that he started drinking recently. Furthermore, he never missed a rent payment. His actions were not suspicious in the slightest, he told Indian Express.
Martin reportedly didn’t receive an education until Class X. A few years back, he was teaching spoken English tutorial classes in Thammanam. It wasn’t until recently that he returned home after moving to the Gulf after that business closed.
Jaleel continued, “Martin never had any problems with anyone and returned to Kerala when his daughter got dengue in the Gulf.”
Church blast rocks Kerala
On the final day of a three-day prayer meeting, hundreds of adherents of the Christian minority Jehovah’s Witnesses had gathered at Kalamassery on Sunday morning.
According to the local newspaper Mathrubhumi, there were three explosions inside the convention hall that resulted in at least three deaths and at least fifty injuries. Kerala DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb stated that a SIT will be formed for investigation and that preliminary investigation indicates the blast was caused by an IED.
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan declared that a 20-person team would look into the explosion after an all-party meeting. Subsequently, Home Minister Amit Shah gave the National Security Guard and National Investigation Agency instructions to start looking into the incident.
CM Vijayan and senior BJP officials got into a fight as a result of the blast.
Earlier, Chandrasekhar had posted on X, “Dirty shameless appeasement politics by a discredited CM (and HM) @pinarayivijayan besieged by corruption charges. Sitting in Delhi and protesting against Israel, when in Kerala open calls by Terrorist Hamas for Jihad is causing attacks and bomb blasts on innocent Christians.”
According to Vijayan, the remarks reflected a rigid communal viewpoint.
Under the provisions of the Explosives Act, the anti-terrorist Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, and Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the IPC, the police have filed a formal complaint (FIR) against unidentified individuals in the interim (UAPA).
In addition, the CM has demanded that all parties get together again today, calling the attack “very unfortunate.” Vijayan responded that the police were looking into every possibility when asked if the explosion was a terrorist attack. Vijayan stated, “At this point in the police investigation, I can’t say anything more.”
