Kollam Collectorate bomb blast; Three accused found guilty, one acquitted

KOLLAM: The court held three accused guilty in the Kollam Collectorate bomb blast case. The fourth accused was acquitted. Principal Sessions Judge G Gopakumar heard the case. Sentencing will be announced tomorrow. Abbas Ali (31), Shamsoon Karim Raja (33) and Dawood Sulaiman (27), who are members of the banned organization Base Movement and natives of Madurai, have been found guilty by the court.

The court released Shamsuddin who was the fourth accused. The fifth defendant, Muhammad Ayub, was tried as a pardon witness. The trial of the case was completed yesterday. On the morning of June 15, 2016, a low-impact bomb was planted under the labour department's jeep lying idle in Kollam Collectorate premises. Sabu, the former president of Perayam Panchayat, was injured when a bomb planted in a tea pot exploded.

Police recovered 15 batteries, 17 fuse wires and a bag from the blast site. The blast happened at the busiest time when people reach the collectorate. The second accused, Shamsoon Karim Raja, is the mastermind of the blast. A week before the blast, Karimraja reached Kollam and took pictures and videos of the Collectorate and the court on his mobile phone.

He came to Madurai with the pictures and planned the blast with four others. On the morning of the blast, Karimraja reached Kollam with the bomb in a KSRTC bus from Tenkasi. From there, they reached the collectorate premises in an autorickshaw and planted the bomb. The Kerala Police, who investigated the incident, could not find the accused. The accused were arrested by the NIA team during the Vellore blast case investigation. All four are currently in remand in Thiruvananthapuram Central Jail.