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Sabarimala: BJP leader ‘manhandled’ in police custody, party protests

Hindustan Times, Thiruvananthapuram | By
Nov 18, 2018 10:27 AM IST

In protest against K Surendran’s arrest from the Nilakkal base camp of Sabarimala temple, BJP has decided to step up its stir and blocked highways across Kerala.

BJP leader K Surendran was allegedly manhandled in police custody and denied basic facilities, he claimed after he was detained for defying police orders at Nilakkal base camp of Sabarimala temple late on Saturday.

Surendran, who is BJP’s Kerala general secretary, has been remanded to 14-day custody by a court in Pathanamthitta in the morning. He is currently lodged at the Kottarakara sub-jail.

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Surendran who spoke to the media before being remanded said: “The police have charged me under non-bailable sections. I am no criminal, nor do I have any cases against me. They did not let me sleep, nor was I allowed water or to take my medicines.

“The police even roughed up my ‘Irumudi kettu’ (a mandatory holy kit to be taken to the temple),” he said.

Police had stopped him and his supporters on Saturday from proceeding to the temple due to new rules that bars pilgrims from proceeding to the temple after 7 pm as the temple closes for the day at 10 pm.

An angry Surendran had asked the police to open fire at him to prevent him from taking the pilgrimage, according to IANS.

In protest against his arrest, BJP has decided to step up its stir and blocked highways across the state.

Calling it a “jungle raj” in the state, Kerala BJP president P S Sreedharan Pillai said they would block all National Highways in the state too.

BJP workers protested outside the state secretariat in Thiruvananthapuram and blocking traffic. Water cannons were used to disperse them.

The Sarabimala temple opened its doors at 5 pm on Friday for a two-month pilgrimage, the third time after the September 28 Supreme Court verdict that allowed women of menstrual age to enter it.

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