PATHANAMTHITTA: Kerala Police and Central forces strengthened security at Sabarimala on Friday in the wake of the Babri Masjid demolition anniversary.
Following a high alert concerning the areas from Pamba to Sannidhanam, a 17-member commando team was deployed to ensure security at Sannidhanam. As part of the arrangements, devotees will not be allowed to stay for long after climbing the holy 18 steps. An aerial checking using helicopters is also ongoing at the hill shrine.
The temple, which is opened for Mandalam-Makaravilakku season, saw a surge in devotees ahead of the weekend holidays. As many as 84,024 devotees visited the temple on Thursday. The number of pilgrims has already surpassed 15 lakh within 21 days of pilgrimage season.
Meanwhile, the third batch of police officers, including 30 CIs, 100 SIs and 1,550 civil police officers, took charge under 10 new DySPs on Friday. They have been deployed under Sannidhanam police special officer P Bejoy (Police Training College principal), joint special officer Shakti Singh Arya (Perumbavoor ASP) and assistant special officer T N Sajeev (Additional SP Wayanad).