The Kerala unit of the BJP plans to approach the court against a crackdown on its cadre and sympathisers, whom the police have accused of perpetrating riots and assaults in and around the Sabarimala shrine during the just-concluded monthly puja .

The party will carry out a protest march on Friday at Pathanamthitta, the district headquarters nearest to Sabarimala. It demanded action against Inspectors General S Sreejith and Manoj Abraham for their alleged conduct. The police have registered more than 250 cases of rioting, assault and vandalism, and picked up more than 1,000 suspects. Most of them are from Ernakulam and Pathanamthitta districts.

1,000 rounded up

“Lookout notices have been issued to more than 200 suspects, and more will be issued and put up at railway stations and other public places,” an official spokesman said.

The arrests are being under the instructions of the Director-General of Police to prevent the recurrence of violent incidents in which journalists from the national media were also attacked.

The Kerala police have deployed face recognition cameras at the Sabarimala temple sannidhaanam and the main transit points of Nilakkal and Pampa. The cameras are equipped with AI and face recognition software.

Photographs of people under scrutiny are being uploaded into the system.

Meanwhile, Governor P Sathasivam met Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh in New Delhi on Thursday and discussed issues pertaining to the State, including law and order and the prevailing situation at Sabarimala.

State BJP president PS Sreedharan Pillai has demanded a referendum to gauge the opinion of women on entry into the Sabrimala shrine.

According to him, 99 per cent are likely to be in favour of observing rituals and traditions which ban the entry of women of reproductive age into the temple.

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