The death toll in the Kalamassery twin blasts rose to five after a woman who was undergoing treatment for burns at a private hospital in Kochi died on Saturday late evening.
The deceased was identified as Saly Pradeepan, 45, of Malayattoor. Her death was recorded at 10.07 p.m. She had been on ventilator support ever since she was admitted to hospital after suffering 50% burns in the incident.
Incidentally, her 12-year-old daughter Libna who was with her at the prayer convention of Jehovah’s Witnesses that was targeted had died the day after the blasts. Her elder son, Praveen, 24, also remains critical with around 60% burns.
Accused taken to Thrissur
Meanwhile, Martin V.D., the prime accused in the case, was taken to the Kodakara police station in Thrissur district where he had surrendered a few hours after the blasts.
He had gone to the station in his scooter. According to sources, the special investigation team (SIT) probing the case recovered the remote control he had reportedly used to trigger the blasts from the storage area of his scooter.
The accused was also taken to a lodge at Koratty where he had checked in momentarily and from where he had made social media posts confessing to his alleged crime. The SIT had taken him to the convention centre, the fire cracker shop from where he had bought 50 high-intensity crackers to make the improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and electronic shops from where he had bought other materials for making IEDs since he was remanded in police custody till November 15.
