New Delhi: The Kerala Police on Wednesday issued a lookout notice for 210 people who are suspected to be involved in instigating violence, manhandling journalists and devotees at Nilakkal, Pamba and Sabarimala last week protesting the entry of women in Sabarimala temple. The notice has been circulated among all district police chiefs.
The Pathanamthitta district has used video grabs of last week's protests to get the mugshots of all the suspects and prepared an album titled "List of suspects to be identified in various cases relating to the entry of women at Sabarimala".
Kerala witnessed massive protests after the doors of the hill shrine opened on October 17 in compliance with Supreme Court's order wherein it lifted the ban on the entry of women falling in the age group of 10 to 50 years in the temple.
The temple closed down for the month on Monday after it opened for five days as a monthly ritual in the Malayalam month of Thulam. However, not a single woman could enter the shrine owing to the widespread protests across the state.
Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan has called the protests a "planned" and "deliberate" attempt to create an atmosphere of tension in Kerala and asserted that no force will be allowed to turn the shrine complex into a centre for trouble-makers.
He has blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh for the violence.
"Kerala government made it clear in front of the Supreme Court that it will implement the verdict. The government arranged all facilities. Neither government nor the police tried to block the devotees. RSS workers tried to make the Sabarimala temple a war zone," he said on Tuesday.
In September 28 judgment, a five-judge constitution bench by a ratio of 4:1 had held that women of all age groups should be allowed entry into Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple.
Earlier, women of menstruating age were barred from entering the Sabarimala temple by its officials, who argued that the temple deity Lord Ayyappa had taken a vow of celibacy.
In view of protests, the Supreme Court has said that it would hear on November 13 the petitions challenging its Sabarimala verdict allowing women of all age groups entry into the temple.
(With agency inputs)
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