Man claims to have planted bomb at the convention centre, surrenders before Kerala police

A man in Kerala's Thrissur district has claimed responsibility for the serial blasts at a prayer meet in Kalamassery that killed one and injured 40 others.

The man, Dominic Martin, claims to have planted the bomb at the convention centre where three blasts took place on Sunday morning, the police said.

Kalamassery, Kerala ADGP (law and order) MR Ajith Kumar, said, "One person has surrendered in Kodakara Police Station, in Thrissur Rural, claiming that he has done it. His name is Dominic Martin and he claims that he belonged to the same group of sabha. We are verifying it. We are looking into all aspects of this case...The blast took place in the central part of the hall."

The police, however, have not yet confirmed if he was behind the blasts or not. The man is being questioned in



detail.

According to preliminary investigation, the explosives were filled in a tiffin box and the first blast was reported at 9:40 am. An Improvised Explosive Device (IED) was used in the attack, Kerala DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb said.

Meanwhile, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called for an all-party meeting at 10 am on Monday in the Secretariat. He is likely to chair a high-level meeting over the blasts.

"It's a very unfortunate incident. We are collecting details regarding the incident. All top officials in Ernakulam are there. We are taking it very seriously. I have spoken to the DGP and we will get more details after the investigation," he said this morning.

Eyewitnesses present at the prayer meeting said they heard multiple explosions, following which a fire broke out.