Kannur: Bindu and Kanakadurga, the first women of child-bearing age to enter the Sabarimala temple since the Supreme Court's verdict, had been reportedly under the protection of Kannur police before and after they set out on the historic trek.
The duo, both in their 40s, who had made an unsuccessful bid to visit the temple on December 24, stayed in a lodge in Virajpet town in Karnataka’s Kodagu district, which borders Kannur, for four days between December 28-31. The accommodation was arranged with the knowledge and connivance of top police officers in Kannur, it was learnt.
It was also the cops from Kannur who escorted them in plainclothes to the temple to facilitate their darshan in a pre-dawn operation on January 2.
Sources revealed that the lodge room in Virajpet was booked by officers attached to the Iritty DySP office as per the directions of DySP. They were told that the accommodation was meant for some VIP guests who were scheduled to arrive on December 28.
The next day, Kanakadurga and Bindu, accompanied by a police team, reached Iritty and the local cops took them to Virajpet as planned. The two stayed there for four days. In the wee hours of December 31, they vacated them room and returned to Kannur before being taken Sabarimala under the protection of a three-member police team assigned by Kannur district police chief G Siva Vikram.
The video footage showing the women entering the Sannidhanam was shot by one of these officers, who escorted them to the temple in mufti.
Cops come under online attack
The police officers who accompanied Kanakadurga and Bindu to Sabarimala have become the target of organised online abuse after the video footage, which confirmed the women’s visit to the temple, went viral.
Security officers have been deployed at the residence of one of the officers, who hails from Mattannur, after right-wing online social groups spread hate messages targeting him and his family.
Kerala has been on the boil since after the two women entered the hill-top shrine Wednesday afternoon. Wide-spread violence marred the state in the hartal called by right-wing groups on Thursday. So far 1,718 people have been arrested in connection with the violence in the last two days and 1,108 cases registered till this evening.
As many as 1,009 people have been taken into preventive custody.
In the violence, 174 people, including 132 police personnel and 10 mediapersons were injured.
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