The Kannur police has recorded the arrest of a man in relation to the bomb blast that happened at Pooniam Choola on Friday afternoon. The man identified as Ashwanth, is suspected to be a member of the CPI(M), he is also an accused in a previous murder attempt case, investigation officers told TNM.
It was on Friday afternoon that the bomb blast occured while a section of people were illegally making steel bombs, in the CPI(M) stronghold region. Two people who were grievously injured were hospitalised following the blast. One of the injured was identified as Rameesh, an accused in the murder case of Revolutionary Marxist Party (RMP) leader TP Chandrasekharan.
According to the police, Ashwanth who was arrested on Saturday night has been booked under sections 3 (Punishment for causing explosion likely to endanger life or property), 4 (Punishment for attempt to cause explosion, or for making or keeping explosive with intent to endanger life or property) and 5 (Punishment for making or possessing explosives under suspicious circumstances) of the Explosives Substances Act.
An official of Kadirur police station confirmed to TNM that Aswanth was third accused in the attempt to murder COT Naseer, a CPI(M) rebel.
COT Naseer who left the party, contested the 2019 Lok Sabha election as an independent candidate from Vadakara constituency in Kozhikode district. He was hacked and injured.
The two people who got injured in the blast that happened on Friday are under police custody. According to reports, one of the persons has lost a palm. Twelve steel bombs were also reportedly retrieved from the spot by the police.
For the past two days, CPI(M) and Congress party workers have been engaged in altercations in many parts of Kerala, following the murder of two DYFI -- youth wing of the CPI(M) -- members in Thiruvananthapuram. Mohammed Haq and Midhilaj were stabbed to death on August 30. Out of the nine accused who have been arrested so far, most of have been identified as Congress workers.
Watch visuals of bomb blast site in Kannur: