The special investigation team probing the multiple blasts at the Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer convention at Kalamassery recorded the arrest of lone suspect Martin V.D. by Monday evening, more than 24 hours after he surrendered before the Kodakara police.
He was being grilled by a team led by investigation officer S. Sasidharan, Deputy Commissioner (Kochi City), at the Kalamassery Armed Reserve Camp since he was taken into the custody. Almost the entire top brass of the police, including State Police Chief Sheikh Darvesh Sahib, was in the city for the second day running.
Sources attributed the delay in recording the arrest to the time taken for verifying his account confessing to the crime and in pursuit of potential aides. There was also the time-consuming process of collecting and analysing the entire CCTV footage of the movements of the accused. Verifying his motive, which he said was his disenchantment with the Jehovah’s Witnesses movement, behind the dastardly act has been cited as another reason. The investigation team also collected the CCTV footage from the convention centre for the entire three days of the prayer convention. Blasts occurred on the final day of the convention.
Charges against accused
The Kalamassery police invoked the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA) in the First Information Report registered on Sunday. Besides, Sections 302 (Punishment for murder) and Section 307 (Attempt to murder) of the Indian Penal Code and provisions of the Explosive Substances Act 3 (a) have also been invoked.
Meanwhile, a team from of the National Security Guards (NSG) swept the blast site for forensic evidence with the help of the experts of the National Bomb Data Centre (NBDC). They may continue their detailed post-blast investigation if need be.
NSG mandate
The NSG’s role is strictly restricted to the post-blast investigation related to matters like the content of the explosives, kind of explosives used etc based on which an exhaustive report running to around 200-odd pages may be prepared.
Preparing the report based on blast scene evidence analysed using NBDC expertise and analytics covering various aspects may take 15 days to a month or more. Sources with the NSG said the days of examination and the size of the team involved in depend on the crime scene and how satisfied the team was on the ground.
The National Investigation Agency is also closing looking at the case and has reportedly questioned the accused. Whether the agency will officially take over the probe remains to be seen.
