Governor P. Sathasivam on Saturday briefed Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh about the law and order situation in Kerala following the violence that rocked the State for nearly three days after two women of childbearing age offered prayers at the sanctum of the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.
On Friday, the Governor had sought a report from the State government on the incidents of violence and destruction of public property at various places in the State.
Meanwhile, BJP spokeperson G.V.L. Narasimha Rao warned the State government that it would face “consequences under the provisions of the Constitution” if it continued to “sponsor” violence. Addressing a press conference in New Delhi on Saturday, he said: “We advise, warn and caution the Chief Minister to stop this violence, failing which the CPI(M) government will have to face constitutional consequences.’’
Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan sought to dispel the Opposition’s accusation that the police had failed to contain the CPI(M)-BJP conflict that saw widespread violence in the State since Wednesday. He said there was no failure on the part of the police. The force had acted maturely and responsibly. The RSS had unleashed the violence. The government would not allow the Sangh Parivar to hold Kerala at knifepoint.
The police on Saturday said they had arrested 3,282 suspects, an overwhelming number of them BJP-RSS activists, responsible for the Sabarimala-related violence. The violence had abated in most parts of the State, except for a few rural pockets.
A vast majority of the accused were let off on bail from station houses after the police recorded their statements. As many as 487 persons were remanded in judicial custody by various courts.
The police have stepped up mass arrests and round-ups in the State. An officer said the police had focussed on arresting persons suspected to be responsible for the attack on houses of elected representatives and political leaders. Law enforcers and plainclothes squads were working in tandem to detain the accused.
They also initiated searches to detect concealed crude bombs and sharp-edged weapons. State Police Chief Loknath Behera asked officers to be on round-the-clock alert for any break out of violence. The police conducted a flag march at Adoor in Kollam, which witnessed BJP-CPI(M) violence, bomb-throwing and arson early Saturday.
They have issued a lookout notice for an RSS leader who was caught on camera hurling crude bombs at the Nedumangad police station in Thiruvananthapuram during the hartal on Thursday.