Kerala man who surrendered after triple blasts arrested under anti-terror law

A man named Dominic Martin was arrested in the Kerala serial blasts case on Monday. The development came a day after he claimed responsibility for the explosion.

Dominic Martin, the man who claimed responsibility for multiple serial blasts at a convention centre in Kerala's Ernakulam district, has been arrested.

He was arrested on Monday, under the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act, the Explosives Act and charges of murder. The development came a day after Martin claimed to have planted the bombs at the convention centre and surrendered to police in the Thrissur district.

Before his surrender, Martin had released a video on Facebook, explaining why he executed the serial blasts at the Christian sect.

In the video, he claimed he was associated with Jehovah's Witnesses, a minority Christian group, years ago, but did not agree with its teachings anymore.

“I take complete responsibility for that. It was me who conducted the blast there.”

Explaining his motive, he said “Six years ago, I realised that this organisation was on the wrong path, and their teachings were anti-national. I asked them to correct it several times. However, they were never ready to do that.”

A convention centre in Kerala's Kalamassery witnessed three serial blasts on Sunday that left three dead and over 50 injured.

Initially, one woman had died. Subsequently, one of the six critically injured, a 53-year-old woman, succumbed to her injuries. On Monday morning, the death toll rose to three with the death of a 12-year-old girl who had suffered 95 per cent burns in the incident.