Kerala Kalamassery blasts: Pinarayi-led all-party meet resolves to resist efforts creating mistrust, intolerance

An all-party meet, called by Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan in the wake of the multiple blasts at a religious gathering in the state that claimed three lives, on Monday resolved to resist attempts to create mistrust and intolerance in society. The meet, held at the conference hall in the Secretariat complex, also unanimously resolved to urge people not to indulge in baseless accusations, speculative campaigns and rumour-mongering in the wake of the blasts, a statement issued by the Chief Minister's Office (CMO) said.

Thiruvananthapuram:Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan-led all-party meet to discuss the multiple blasts reported at a Christian gathering of Jehovah's Witness at Kalamassery in Kochi that claimed three lives, on Monday, resolved to resist attempts to create mistrust and intolerance in society.

The meet was held at the CM's conference hall in the Secretariat complex.

Chief Minister's Office (CMO), in a statement, said the meet unanimously resolved to urge people not to indulge in baseless accusations, speculative campaigns and rumour-mongering in the wake of the blasts.

The blasts occurred at a prayer meeting convention of the Jehovah's Witnesses -- a Christian religious group that originated in the US in the 19th century -- on Sunday.

The all-party meet was attended by all major political parties in the state and they also resolved that Kerala will, at any cost, overcome the isolated attempts to fragment it by those who cannot tolerate the special social situation of peace, brotherhood and equality in the southern state, the CMO statement said.

It urged every person in the society to nip in the bud any attempts to spread speculations, myths and rumors to create divisions in the society and thereby alienate the people from each other.

On Sunday morning, one woman was killed while 52 others were injured. Six of them were critically injured and were admitted to the Intensive Care Unit(ICU) of the Kalamassery Government Medical College Hospital.

One of the six critically injured -- a 53-year-old woman -- succumbed to her injuries later in the day.

In the intervening night of Sunday and Monday, the death toll rose to three with the death of a 12-year-old girl who had suffered 95 per cent burns in the incident.

Kerala DGP Shaik Darvesh Saheb said the blast was caused by an improvised explosive device (IED), used by the suspect. The State Police Chief attributed the finding to a preliminary probe.

Hours after the incident, a man claiming to be a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, turned himself in before police in Thrissur, claiming responsibility to the multiple blasts.