Sabarimala violence: Persons who acted behind the scenes have been identified

KOCHI: The Central and state intelligence agencies are evaluating the Left-wing extremists’ (LWE) role in helping a couple of women trek Sabarimala as their plot could have triggered a major law-and-order breakdown in and around the shrine and even resulted in communal clashes.

Apart from tracking the whereabouts of the six women from Andhra Pradesh who reached Pampa to proceed to Sannidhanam, the agencies have unearthed links of pro-LWE outfits with two Kerala-based women activists who wanted to trek.

Senior police officers said they had collected the details based on the inputs shared by the two women. “We’ve verified the details and also the phone calls received by these women from a few numbers. We’ve identified the persons who acted behind the scenes to bring them to Sabarimala,” said the officers.

The Union Home Ministry, in a letter dated October 16 to Chief Secretaries and Directors General of Police of Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka had alerted certain civil woman rights activists, Left parties and pro-LWE groups would try to make it to the shrine, and Hindu outfits and activists would attempt to block them.

Meanwhile, the police have collected the details of four women who have approached the Kerala High Court seeking police protection to trek Sabarimala.

In another development, the police have launched a probe into the Facebook account in the name of ‘Rehana Fathima Pyarijaan Sulaiman’ in which there is a post calling to deposit `1,000 to become members of an organisation.