Kerala: All-party meeting convened by Chief Minister Vijayan in wake of Kochi blasts begins

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India]: An all-party meeting chaired by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan began on Monday in Thiruvananthapuram, in the wake of the blasts a day ago in Kochi.

The meeting was convened at the Chief Minister’s Conference Hall in the State Secretariat.
IUML leader PK Kunjalikutty, Congress leader VT Belram, NCP leader PC Chacko, JDS leader Mathew T Thomas, Kerala Congress leader Monce Joseph, CPI leader P Sudheer, BJP leader C Krishna Kumar and ministers K Rajan, Roshi Augustin, Antony Raju, A K Sasindran, Kadannapally Ramachandran, CPI (M) state secretary M V Govindan and opposition leader V D Satheesan are among those who attended the meeting that began this morning.

Multiple explosions took place at a prayer meeting of Jehovah’s Witnesses in the Kalamassery area of Kochi district at around 9:00 am on Sunday

A man identified as Dominic Martin has surrendered at the Kodakara police station in Thrissur, claiming responsibility for a series of blasts, in which three people were killed. A 12-year-old girl succumbed to burn injuries this morning and four people are in critical condition in hospital.

The police, however, said that they have yet to verify Martin’s claims.
According to the police, preliminary investigation suggests that IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) were used to trigger the blasts.

Following the incidents, Chief Minister Vijayan announced a 20-member probe team to investigate the matter.