
KOCHI: The police team probing the 2023 Kalamassery blasts that claimed the lives of eight people has received the green light from the state government to approach UAE authorities to investigate sole-accused Dominic Martin’s activities in Dubai. Last week, the state government had cleared the submission of Mutual Legal Assistance requests to UAE, via Interpol.
Dominic worked as an electrician in Dubai till 2023 before returning to Kochi. He was arrested on October 29, 2023, the same day he carried out the twin explosions at a convention centre in Kalamassery during a prayer meeting of the Jehovah’s Witnesses.
The blasts left over 45 persons severely injured. Dominic, who was then staying at a rented house in Thammanam, claimed that differences over the practices of the Christian sect led him to carry out the blasts. “Although we have filed a chargesheet in the case, further investigations are still on. As part of this, we decided to collect more information about Dominic’s activities in Dubai. We want to know about his friends circle there and check whether he had any criminal history. We will also examine if he carried out the act under the influence of other persons,” an officer said.
A January 29 government order sanctioned the state police chief to send a Mutual Legal Assistance request “in Crime No 2421.2023 registered at Kalamassery police station to the ministry of home affairs through the online portal for getting legal assistance from the competent authorities of UAE in the investigation of the case.”
The order issued by Sindhu T S, deputy secretary of the state home department, added, “The inspector general of police, crime branch (state Interpol liaison officer), Thiruvananthapuram shall take steps and procedure for making Mutual Legal Assistance request strictly complying with guidelines issued by the central government in this regard.”
Dominic was chargesheeted last April. Although he was booked under the Unlawful Activities Prevention Act (UAPA), the same was later dropped. Currently, he is accused of offences under the IPC and the Explosives Act. While Dominic is eligible for bail in the wake of the dropping of UAPA charges, he is yet to move court for it. He is currently lodged in the Ernakulam district jail in Kakkanad.