Malayatoor resident Praveen (24) died at a private hospital on Thursday, said authorities at the hospital, where he was being treated.
Screengrab from a video of the aftermath of the Kalamassery blasts in Kerala on 29 October.
The death toll from the series of blasts at a gathering of the followers of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Kalamassery near Kochi in Kerala last month has risen to six, government sources said on Friday, 17 November.
Malayatoor resident Praveen (24) died on Thursday at a private hospital where he was being treated, the sources said.
“He was in the ICU. He passed away at 10.40 pm on Thursday,” a hospital source told PTI.
The Kerala government had announced on Wednesday that financial assistance of ₹5 lakh each would be provided to the families of those who had lost their lives and promised to cover the medical expenses of the injured.
Praveen’s mother, Sally Pradeep (45), who suffered serious wounds in the blasts, had died on 11 November, while his younger sister Libina had succumbed to injuries on 30 October, a day after the blasts occurred at the gathering of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The medical board, responsible for treating those wounded in the incident, is yet to release the medical bulletin indicating the number of patients under treatment following the blasts.
The blasts took place during a gathering of Jehovah’s Witnesses on 29 October. They had gathered for the final day of a three-day-long prayer meeting.
Libina (12) passed away on 30 October at the Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital, and two women — Leona Paulose (55), a resident of Iringol in Perumbavur and Kumari (52), a resident of Kaliyar in Thodupuzha — who were part of the gathering lost their lives on the day of the blasts.
Subsequently, 61-year-old Moly Joy from Kalamassery died at a private hospital on 6 November.
During the multiple blasts at the international convention centre in Kalamassery, over 50 people were injured, some seriously.
A few hours after the incident, a man — Dominic Martin — said to be an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, surrendered before the police in Thrissur district, claiming he carried out the multiple blasts. The police later recorded his arrest.
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 Martin.
On 6 November, a Kochi court granted the police 10 days custody of Martin.
Several cases were also registered following the blast against spreading hatred via social media in connection with the blast.
On 8 November, the Kerala Police booked right-wing vlogger Lasitha Palakkal over an objectionable campaign allegedly made to connect People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Abdul Nasar Mahdani with the blast.
On 4 November, 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 concerning 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 K Antony was also booked for his social media posts based on the complaint of the Congress leader.
(With PTI inputs)
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