The police submitted that they needed to investigate his sources of income, international connections, and other related matters.
Published Nov 06, 2023 | 1:29 PM ⚊ Updated Nov 06, 2023 | 1:33 PM
An eyewitness said she saw a ball of fire immediately after the blasts. (Screen grab)
A court in Kerala on Monday, 6 November, granted the police 10 days custody of the lone accused, Dominic Martin, in the Kochi bomb blast case.
Principal Session Court Judge Honey M Varghese allowed the police’s plea for a 10-day custody of Martin.
Meanwhile, a 61-year-old woman who is a Kalamassery native succumbed to her burns on Monday morning at around 5 am, making the total death toll of the blasts at the Jehovah’s Witnesses gathering to four.
Over 50 people were injured in the blast during a prayer meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses at a convention centre in Kalamassery near Kochi on 29 October.
The police submitted in court that they needed to investigate the accused’s sources of income, international connections, and other related matters.
They also said the accused must be taken to certain locations for further evidence collection.
Meanwhile, Martin once again declined the assistance of a legal aid lawyer. Previously, on 31 October, Martin was remanded to judicial custody.
In addition to Section 302 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC) (Punishment for murder) and Section 3 of the Explosive Substances Act, relevant sections of the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) have also been invoked against the accused.
The police formally recorded Martin’s arrest as he had surrendered a few hours after the blasts on 29 October.
Meanwhile, Kerala police said that 54 cases were registered against several people for spreading communally instigative content through social media after the blasts.
The most number of cases — 26 cases — was registered in the Malappuram district, followed by 15 in Ernakulam, and five in Thiruvananthapuram.
Thrissur City and Kottayam reported two cases each, while Pathanamthitta, Alappuzha, Palakkad, and Kozhikode Rural have one case each.
The Kerala Police had registered two cases against Union Minister of State for Electronics and Information Technology Rajeev Chandrasekhar for allegedly making statements that could promote enmity between different groups through social media posts in connection with the blasts.
The Ernakulam Central police registered a case against him over the same incident based on a complaint by KPCC digital media convenor P Sarin.
BJP national secretary and spokesperson Anil Antony was also booked for his social media posts based on the complaint of the Congress leader.
“Both cases were registered on 31 October under IPC 153 and 153A and Section 120 (O) of the Kerala Police Act,” a police officer told news agency PTI.
IPC Sections 153 and 153A refer to wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause a riot and promoting enmity between different groups on the grounds of religion, race, place of birth, and residence respectively.
Section 120 (O) of the KP Act refers to causing nuisance and violating public order.
The blasts were set off at a convention centre in Kalamassery near Kochi, where a prayer meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses — a Christian religious group that originated in the US in the 19th century — was held on 29 October.
A few hours after that, Martin, who claimed to be an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before the police in Thrissur district, claiming that he carried out the multiple blasts.
Initially, one woman was killed in the blasts and 60 were injured — six of them critically. Subsequently, one of the six critically wounded — a 53-year-old woman — succumbed to her injuries.
By 30 October morning, the death toll had risen to three, with the demise of a 12-year-old girl who had sustained 95 percent burns in the incident.
(With PTI inputs)
