A bomb blast from under a car parked near the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court within the Civil Station compound shook the Malappuram Collectorate complex on Tuesday afternoon.
Three cars were damaged in the blast that took place at 12.55 p.m.
Apart from a few batteries and wires, the police recovered a paper box, a pen drive and a printed paper ascribing the blast to the Base Movement. The letter, with the photograph of the killed al-Qaeda head Osama Bin Laden, had references to alleged human rights violations in the country, including the killing of Mohammed Akhlaq in the name of eating beef.
A >similar blast took place in the Kollam Collectorate compound in June this year. The Base Movement, a mysterious organisation, was suspected to have been behind that blast too.
The blast took place under a Chevrolet Enjoy car hired by District Medical Officer (Homoeo) Reji Kuzhiyellil. The car was empty when the blast occurred. A man sitting in a Maruti car a few metres away ran for cover as the blast shook the entire Collectorate compound. “I was thrown out of my chair in my office,” said District Medical Officer V. Ummer Farook.
Senior police officers who examined the blast site said that the explosive was kept in a tiffin box under the diesel tank of the car. Eye witnesses said the car was lifted off the ground in the blast.
