A magistrate in Pathanamthitta district on Sunday remanded BJP leader K. Surendran in judicial custody for 14 days. The police had on Saturday stopped Mr. Surendran and his four associates at Nilackal, the final checkpoint on the 26-km forested route to Sabarimala.
The police did not buy Mr. Surendran’s argument that he had arrived as a pilgrim and not as a protester.
Charges
After a 20-minute tense stand-off, the police hustled him away in a patrol van to Chittar police station where law enforcers formally charged him with having used criminal force to deter officers from discharging their duty.
They also charged him of violating the prohibitory orders in place at Nilackal.
The police later escorted Mr. Surendran to the house of a magistrate in Pathanamthitta after a medical examination.
Scores of supporters gathered outside the magistrate’s house and in front of the sub-jail at Kottarakara to express their solidarity with Mr. Surendran.
The BJP leader told the media that the police maltreated him in custody and denied him essential amenities, including toilet facility. The police denied his allegations. They pointed out that Mr. Surendran’s medical examination report revealed that he had sustained no injuries.
Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran on Sunday countered Mr. Surendran’s claim that the State police had maltreated him in custody.
He said police surveillance video showed Mr. Surendran sitting comfortably in the Circle Inspector’s room. The police put two benches together so he could sleep comfortably. Law enforcers provided him with hot water, food and medicine. He said Mr. Surendran had spread lies, including the falsehood that the police had desecrated his ‘irumudi kettu’, to vitiate the communal atmosphere.