KOCHI:A Portuguese citizen picked up by the police for trespassing into the Ernakulathappan temple on March 16 midnight and later let off is now facing serious trouble.
Pedro Miguel Rapose’s trip to Goa was cut short after the police registered a case against him on charges of trespassing. He was brought back to the state and remanded. The 23-year-old will now have to clear the legal hurdles to fly back home.
“The rules of the land are the same for all, even if it’s a foreigner,” said K Laljy, Assistant Commissioner of Police. “He should have asked someone for shelter rather than trespassing into a temple at midnight. Now, he can leave the country only after the court proceedings are over.”
Pedro, who arrived on a tourist visa from Iran, was taken into custody by the City Police after the temple staff found him inside the temple around midnight.
Police interrogated him and released him later as it turned out he had taken refuge in the temple as he couldn’t find a place to stay the night.
When Pedro’s travel documents were examined, no irregularities were found. He was allowed to proceed to Goa, his next destination. The police opened the case after the temple authorities approached them saying all the 13 CCTV cameras installed on the temple premises had mysteriously conked off during the foreigner’s stay there.
However, the police couldn’t unravel any larger conspiracy behind the issue and stuck to their earlier finding the Portuguese didn’t pose any security threat.
“ On questioning him, we understood he had no intention of posing a security threat. The CCTVs cannot be jammed too as they are not connected to Wi-Fi. The control room is also inside the temple office,” Laljy said. The police have also collected evidence from the temple premises.