TWO women died and 51 persons were injured, some seriously, in multiple blasts at a Christian religious gathering in a convention centre near this port city on Sunday morning, sending shockwaves across Kerala. A few hours after the incident, a man claiming to be a member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before police inThrissur district of the State, saying that he carried out the multiple blasts. Later in the day, State Health Minister Veena George said that of the 51 injured, 30 were admitted in various hospitals in the state and of them 18 were in ICUs. One person died on the spot in the incident, whereas, fiftythree-year-old Kumari, a native of Thodupuzha in Idukki district of the State, succumbed to the grievous burns suffered in the incident, the Minister said. 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.

 

She said teams of plastic and general surgeons arrived at the Kalamassery Medical College from the Thrissurand Kottayam medical colleges. Besides that a 14-member medical board was also constituted to supervise the treatment being provided to the injured. ADGP Law and Order M R Ajith Kumar told reporters here that Dominic Martin surrendered at Kodakara police station in the morning, clai ming he was the one who set off the blasts.

 

The officer said the man gave evidence supporting his claim and the police were examining that as well as his claims and the reasons he gave for carrying outthe act. Prior to surrendering before the police, the man - - who identified himself as Martin--alsoputouta video message on a social media platform claiming responsibility for the blasts and giving reasons for the same. In the video, which was aired on various TV channels, themanalleged thathe took the decision as the teachingsoftheorganisation were ‘seditious’. No one from the organisationhas reactedtohisallegations. Meanwhile, a person claiming to be a memberofthereligiousgrouptold aTVchannelthatnosuchperson was part of their organisation presently. Martinfurtherallegedthat the organisation and its ideology weredangerous forthe country andtherefore,ithad tobe put to anend in the State. He claimed that h e had told the organisation several times to correct its teachings, but it was notready to do so.

 

“As I had no other option, Itook this decision,”the man contended. Earlier, State Police Chief Shaik Darvesh Saheb told reporters in Thiruvanantha puram that according to the preliminary probe, an improvised explosive device (IED)was used to carry out the blasts. The blasts occurred at an international convention centreinKalamassery where hundreds of followers of Jehovah’s Witnesses had assembled on the concluding day of their three-daylong prayer meeting. Jehovah’s Witnesses is a Christianreligiousgroupthat originated in the United States of America in the 19th century. “This morning at 9.40 am approximately, there was an explosion in Zamrah International Convention Centre in Kalamassery in which one person died and 36 people are undergoing treatment as per our information,” the DGP said. “We are examining it,” he said, adding that a Special InvestigationTeam (SIT) will be constituted once he reaches the site.Apolice source told PTI that the rewere three blasts, of which two were strong and the third was of low intensity.