Kerala Blasts: Who Is Dominic Martin? Man Behind The Explosions At Jehovah's Witnesses Prayer Meet
Kerala Blast: Dominic Martin, who claimed responsibility for the explosion, had worked in Dubai for a couple of years and his neighbours recalled him as a soft-spoken person.
Hours after a series of blasts shook the Zamra International Convention Centre in Kerala's Kochi Sunday, killing three persons and injuring over 50, a man claiming to be a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, a minority Christian group, claimed responsibility for the explosion. Dominic Martin surrendered before police while claiming that he set off the blasts at the convention centre in Kalamassery where around 2,000 followers of Jehovah's Witnesses had gathered for a prayer meeting.
Before surrendering, Martin released a video message on Facebook, stating his reasons for carrying out the blasts. While he claimed to be a member of Jehovah's Witnesses himself, a member of the Christian sect said Martin was not an active member but used to come "on and off" at their congregations, PTI reported.
A Christian religious group, which has around 6,000 followers in India, Jehovah's Witnesses believe Jesus Christ as "son of God" and Jehovah as the Almighty.
While the NIA has taken up the investigation into the case, little information has trickled out on Dominic Martin and why he carried out the explosion. Here is all we know on the accused so far.
READ | Kerala Blast: Who Are Jehovah's Witnesses? Know About Core Beliefs And Presence In India
Kerala Blasts: Who Is Dominic Martin?
A resident of Kochi, Martin had been living with his wife and daughter in a two-bedroom rented accommodation at Thammanam's Khader Lane for the last five years, a report in The Indian Express said. Dominic has a son as well, who is pursuing his studies in the UK, according to a PTI report.
Minutes before he gave himself up to the police, Martin appeared on Facebook Live, saying he carried out the blasts as the teachings of Jehovah's Witnesses were "seditious" and its ideology was dangerous for the country.
"...therefore its presence had to be ended in the state. I was trying my best to tell those behind this congregation and the ideology that it was totally wrong and against the country," Martin said in the video.
"I tried to tell those concerned that corrections should be made but all my attempts failed. So I did this...I take up the responsibility," he added. No official statement has come so far from Jehovah's Witnesses on the charges levelled by Martin.
Much information about Martin, who had worked in Dubai for a couple of years, has come from his neighbours and locals in Thammanam, who recalled him as a soft-spoken man.
His landlord, Jaleel, described him "by and large a quiet person", PTI reported. The landlord mentioned that Martin brought a stove a few days ago. For the past several weeks, Martin had been trying to learn ways to make explosives, the police have learnt.
Jaleel said Martin did not have many friends and there were no reports of him creating trouble. "He did not have many friends but no enemies either. He might have started drinking of late...Also, he never defaulted on rent payment. There was nothing suspicious about his activities," the IE report quoted Jaleel as saying.
Very few people knew Martin in Thammanam, and local councillor Sakkir Thammanam was one of them.
Sakkir told IE that Martin had studied till Class 10 and used to give tuitions on spoken English before he went to Dubai. "He came back just a couple of months ago and was planning to start some shop."
A report in The News Minute, meanwhile, said Martin went to Dubai after he lost his job during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the Gulf, Martin did several odd jobs and returned to Kerala two months ago after his daughter fell ill due to dengue.
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