New Delhi: Father of two, spoken English teacher and Dubai returnee. This is all investigators initially knew about Dominic Martin, who sources in Kerala Police told ThePrint, claims he used “firecrackers and petrol” to carry out two blasts at a convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses at the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kerala’s Kalamassery.
The blasts Sunday claimed three lives, including that of a minor, and left at least 50 injured.
Though investigators are still trying to corroborate his claims with evidence and witnesses, sections of the media have reported that Martin uploaded a video on Facebook claiming responsibility for the blasts. In the video, Martin said he attacked the three-day convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses because of their “anti-national” ideology. He also said that he “wanted them to rectify it; but they were not ready for it”.
Jehovah’s Witnesses is a sect of Christianity not part of the mainstream Christian churches. Members of this congregation do not have priests and follow a literal interpretation of the Bible. Though they do not believe in Christian Trinity, they see Jesus as the ‘son of God’ and Jehovah as ‘God’.
Martin, by his own admission, had been a member of the congregation for “16 years”.
Reached for comment, V.P. Pramod Kumar, public relations officer at the Kerala Police HQ, told ThePrint Monday that Martin is being questioned in Kochi and that he cannot share any more details about the ongoing probe at this time.
Dominic Martin & how he ‘planned’ blasts
According to sources in the Kerala Police, Martin had been living in a rented accommodation at Thammanam city in Ernakulam district, about 10-12 km from Kochi city, for the last few months. He has a son studying in the UK and a daughter working in Kochi.
Martin had been employed in Dubai for several years before he came back earlier this year to attend to his daughter, who was diagnosed with dengue.
Sources in Kerala Police told ThePrint that Martin bought 50 ‘gundu’ — a type of firecracker — and eight litres of petrol, and that he allegedly planted explosives concealed in plastic bags at six locations inside the convention centre where more than 2,000 members of the congregation had gathered.
Investigating officers, it is learnt, have accessed data from Martin’s cell phone, and that he led them to the shop from where he purchased the items allegedly used to carry out the two blasts. He could now be taken to the same shop to corroborate his claims.
“Firecrackers were kept in pouches and all pouches had two litres of petrol each, which were kept beneath chairs, wrapped in cloth. These were connected with batteries,” an officer privy to the investigation told ThePrint on condition of anonymity.
He added that the “casualties were low because there was no presence of shrapnel at the site and the equipment used was not very high-tech”. Lives were lost, he said, because of the fire at the convention centre.
Sources, however, suggested that Martin’s claims cannot be taken at face value and investigators are exploring all possible angles behind the blasts.
As ThePrint reported earlier, The National Security Guard (NSG), which has the mandate to investigate a site post any blast, recovered circuits and firecrackers from the convention centre.
Earlier Sunday, Additional Director General of Police (law and order) M.R. Ajith of the state police had first informed mediapersons about Martin, who he said surrendered at the Kodakara police station, in Thrissur Rural. “His name is Dominic Martin and claims he belonged to the same group (congregation). We are verifying it. We are looking into all aspects of this case…The blast took place in the central part of the hall,” said the ADG.
Later in the day, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan announced the constitution of a 20-member team headed by ADG M.R. Ajith to probe the Kalamassery blasts.
Phone calls and WhatsApp messages to ADG M.R. Ajith went unanswered. This report will be updated if and when a response is received.
‘Don’t recall Martin’
A member of Jehovah’s Witnesses told ThePrint that the congregation is looking for more information on Martin to verify his claim that he was associated with the congregation for the better part of two decades.
Almost no member of the congregation can recall a member by that name, said a source in Jehovah’s Witnesses. The source, a person familiar with the congregation’s day-to-day operations, added that Jehovah’s Witnesses has as many as 60,000 members across India, including 17,000 from Kerala.
The congregation told ThePrint in an official statement: “Jehovah’s Witnesses are very grateful for the authorities who are investigating this crime and providing protection for our places of worship. At this time, it is unwise for us to speculate about the perpetrator(s) or the motive.”
(Edited by Amrtansh Arora)
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