Kerala Blast: Death Toll Rises To 3 Amid Claims Of Responsibility And Political Barbs

The death toll in the blast at a gathering of Christian sect Jehovah's Witnesses in Kerala's Kochi rose to three on Monday. Around 60 were hospitalised with injuries. 

The latest victim is a 12-year-old girl from Kerala's Ernakulam. Earlier on Sunday, two women had succumbed to their injuries. 

Within hours of the blast on Sunday, a man surrendered to the police and claimed responsibility for the blast. He identified himself as a disgruntled member of the Christian sect.

A tussle broke out on who will probe the case as the Centre sent a team while Kerala Police is carrying out its own investigation. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has accused the Pinarayi Vijayan-led Kerala government of appeasement politics, while Vijayan's CPI (M) has said that the blast could be a ploy to deviate the state from supporting the Palestinians in the ongoing Israel-Hamas War. 

What do we know of the Kerala blast?

The Samra International Convention Center in Kalamassery area of Kochi in Kerala, where around 2,300 members of the Christian sect Jehovah's Witnesses had gathered for an event, was rocked by multiple explosions at around 9:40 am. 

Three people have since died and Kerala Health Minister Veena George has said that around 60 people in total have been hospitalised. 

Of the injured, four are in critical condition and 12 are in the intensive care unit (ICU) of different hospitals. 

The police said the preliminary probe suggests that the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), whose traces have also been recovered from the site.

Union Home Minister Amit Shah talked to Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan after the blast. It was also reported later in the day that the Centre has sent an eight-member team of the National Security Guards (NSG), the premier counter-terrorism force, to collect evidence and make enquiries. 

The PTI reported that the National Investigation Agency (NIA) was also engaged in the probe. It reported, "On being asked whether tiffin boxes were used for packing the explosives as claimed by some news reports, the source said that it cannot be confirmed at this stage as the blast site was being examined by multiple agencies, including the state anti-terrorism squad and the National Investigation Agency (NIA)." 

A man claims responsibility, police probe on

Within hours of the blast, a man identifying himself as Dominic Martin surrendered at the Kodakara Police Station and claimed responsibility for the blast. 

The man identified himself as a member of the Christian sect Jehovah's Witnesses and said he carried out the bombing after the sect did not address his concerns about their teachings. The police are investigating the claims. 

Shortly before the blast, the man had posted a video on Facebook in which he accused the Jehovah's Witnesses of being engaged in "seditious" teachings. In the video, that appears to have been removed from Facebook after the surrender, the man said he realised that the sect’s path was wrong and argued with the sect and tried to convince them they were wrong, but he was ignored. In the video, the man also said that Jehovah’s Witnesses believe that everyone outside of their sect is a sinner and he tried to convince them that this spreads hate and is wrong. He added that when the sect did not listen to him, he decided to carry out the act.

As per the latest available reports, he has not been charged yet. The police have registered an FIR against unknown persons in the case under Sections 302 (murder) and 307 (attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) as well as provisions of the Explosives Act and the anti-terror law Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), according to PTI. 

Members of the Jehovah's Witnesses sect have appeared on television and have said Martin is not a member of the sect.

None of these claims can, however, be independently verified, and the police are yet to confirm anything conclusively.  

Political rhetoric over Kerala blast

The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Kerala's ruling CPI (M) have exchanged barbs ever since the blast in Kerala on Sunday morning. 

Within hours of the blast, Union minister Rajeev Chandrasekhar termed Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayi's presence in Delhi to support the Palestinian cause in the Israel-Hamas War as "shameless appeasement politics". 

To this, Vijayan responded by terming it a "venomous message" and labelled it as a hate campaign. He further slammed Chandrasekhar for linking the Kochi blast with a specific section of the population.

"As a minister, he should respect the investigating agencies, including the central agencies. Targeting a particular section of people is part of their communal agenda. Kerala is not with them. We are against all forms of communalism. How can he target a specific community and attribute a special dimension to this crime? On what grounds is he doing so? This is deeply concerning. Nobody should fall for this kind of communal rhetoric. As far as this crime is concerned, the investigation is proceeding in the right direction, the culprit or culprits will not be spared," said Vijayan in a statement. 

The Kerala government held an all-party meeting on Monday. A statement from the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said that the parties unanimously resolved to urge people not to indulge in baseless accusations, speculative campaigns and rumour-mongering in the wake of the blasts.

The parties also resolved that Kerala will, at any cost, overcome the isolated attempts to fragment it by those who cannot tolerate the special social situation of peace, brotherhood and equality, according to PTI, which added that the parties also urged every person in the society to nip in the bud any attempts to spread speculations, myths and rumours to create divisions in the society and thereby alienate the people from each other.