Sabarimala: The police force deployed at Sabarimala were caught off guard by the massive mobilisation of protesters at Sannidhanam on Sunday night despite covering the area with a thick blanket of security.
Though the situation was brought under control, the nature of the agitation, which was spontaneous, unorganised and leaderless, has put the police in a spot of bother.
The intrusion of the representatives of Hindu outfits in Sabarimala was anticipated following the arrest of BJP state general secretary K Surendran and Hindu Aikya Vedi president K P Sasikala as a 'preventive measure', but the police did not expect protesters to gather in large numbers at the holy shrine where a large posse of police officers was deployed.
The BJP decided to send national-level leaders to Sabarimala to spearhead the protests after the police intensified vigil by detaining the party’s state leaders as well activists of the Sabarimala Karma Samithi activists. However, despite the police crackdown, members of the Karma Samithi continued to trek to Sannidhanam and have darshan at the temple.
As the government was keen to prevent a pre-planned agitation at Sabarimala, similar to the one led by RSS leader Valsan Thillankeri during the Chitra Atta Vishesham on November 5 and 6, measures had been taken to step up security arrangements at the hillock.
The chaotic situation prevailed on Sunday night pointed to the fact that the agitating outfits would resort to novel ways to turn the heat on the police.
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