Sabarimala row: Over 3,000 held in bid to curb protests

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Though Saturday was a peaceful day, compared to the previous two days when violence ruled the streets, police continued the arrest of suspects involved in violent incidents. No major violent incident was reported on Saturday, though tension prevailed in Kannur and parts of Pathanamthitta.

Police arrested 3,282 persons across the state in 1,286 cases registered in connection with the violence that began on Thursday. As many as 37,979 persons were made culprits in these cases. Among the arrested, 487 have been remanded, while 2,795 have been granted bail. Most number of cases were registered in Kannur (169) and Palakkad (166).


As many as 298 were arrested in Palakkad while it was 230 in Kannur. In Thrissur rural, police registered 57 cases in which 149 persons were arrested. On Saturday, two Youth Congress activists, who tried to wave black flags at the chief minister, were taken into custody in the capital.

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan warned that nobody would be allowed to ‘maintain an atmosphere of fear’ in state. He flayed BJP, RSS and Sangh Parivar for the ongoing violence. “What is being executed, in many places, is part of what had been planned. The intention of Sangh Parivar activists – attacking people’s representatives and media persons, vandalising public buildings and offices of political parties – is to create a provocative situation in state. Government will act against this attempt. RSS will not be allowed to create an atmosphere of fear in state,” he said. Though the state should stand united in such a situation, it was unfortunate that some parties, including Congress, are not doing so for political interests, he claimed.

Rubbishing reports that police had been ineffective in controlling violence, Vijayan said there was no lapse on the part of the police and the department had taken enough precautions anticipating untoward incidents.

He said people had shown admirable restraint despite attempts to provoke them. “People’s representatives, including MLAs, have been attacked. People should continue this restrain as violence is the way of only one section and it will be dealt with by the government,” he said.

Prohibitory order extended in Sabarimala

Meanwhile, Pathanamthitta district administration has decided to extend prohibitory orders in Sabarimala till January 14. The earlier order was set to expire on Saturday midnight. District collector P B Nooh decided to extend prohibitory orders, under Section 144 of the CrPC, till the end of Makaravilakku season.