THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Do police personnel pose inconvenience to Sabarimala pilgrims? Not all, but some do, reckon Kerala Police top bosses. With allegation surfacing that some personnel posted outside the hill shrine take undue advantage of their uniform and enter the sanctum sanctorum for having darshan themselves or facilitate their near ones to do so, it has been decided to end the malpractice by making armbands mandatory for those who are deployed inside the temple.
Easily identifiable special armbands have been provided to its personnel deployed inside the shrine to prevent cops who are posted outside from entering the temple. This decision has been communicated in a confidential internal communique circulated among top officers and unit heads. The unauthorised entry and facilitation of darshan for near ones have been “causing inconvenience to pilgrims and embarrassment to the authorities”, said the communique.
As per the communique, a large number of police personnel in uniform throng the Sreekovil and precincts of the temple. “Many cops doing duty elsewhere come to the Sreekovil during their spare time for having darshan or for facilitating their near and dear ones,” read the communique.
To prevent this, a decision has been taken to provide numbered armbands to the personnel placed on duty in the temple. The armbands will be distributed by the police controllers and collected back from the personnel after their duty time. “It will then be handed over to the next duty personnel,” said an officer. To prevent misuse, it has been decided to keep a register to mark the distribution of the bands. Instructions have been passed on to the police controllers to ensure that the personnel who are deployed at Melethirumuttam wear the bands.
Wrist bands for kids
It has been decided to provide wrist bands for children who accompany their parents to the shrine. This is specially meant for pilgrims from other states. The bands will display the addresses and contact numbers of the parents or guardians.