KOCHI: The State Forensic Science Laboratory (SFSL) will hand over its report on the blasts during a Jehovah’s Witnesses prayer meeting on October 29, 2023, that left eight dead and several injured to the police soon. The team probing the incident will file the chargesheet in the next couple of weeks, after getting the report.
The police had sent samples of the explosives collected from the convention centre in Kalamassery - where the meeting was convened - and those recovered from the house of Dominic Martin, the sole accused, to the SFSL along with the gadgets he used for the blast. The analysis confirmed that Martin used gunpowder for the blast. He had kept two plastic bags containing ‘gundus’ (high-intensity firecrackers) at two spots inside the convention centre and triggered the blast using a remote control.
“The SFSL informed us that forensic analysis of the samples is over. We will collect the report soon. We have collected material and scientific evidence and statements of crucial witness statements. Only the chargesheet remains to be filed,” said a police officer.
The 180-day deadline to file the chargesheet and prevent Martin from getting statutory bail ends on April 26. “We are confident of filing the chargesheet before then. The documentation has already started, and can be completed before the last date as the forensic report will be available to us soon. After filing the chargesheet, we will move court for expediting the trial considering the nature of the crime and the death toll,” said the officer.
Martin, an estranged member of Jehovah’s Witnesses, had told the police that he carried out the attacks to exact vengeance on the Christian group after they repeatedly ignored his requests to go for “course correction.”