Sabarimala Ayyappa Seva Samajom (SASS) and the Akhila Bharatha Ayyappa Seva Sanghom (ABASS) have strongly condemned the reported attack on a group of Sabarimala pilgrims by unidentified persons near Koonamkara on the Mannarakulanji-Pampa main trunk road leading to Sabarimala on Tuesday.
In separate statements issued here on Wednesday, Mr Kummanam Rajashekharan, SASS general secretary, and D. Vijayakumar, ABASS national vice-president, have called upon the Government to arrest the culprits involved in the attack and take stern action against them without any delay.
According to them, three pilgrims from Chennai who were returning from Sabarimala in a taxi cab were intercepted and attacked by a group of unidentified persons near Koonamkara on Tuesday forenoon. The taxi driver, Prasanth alias Unni from Chengannur, too was assaulted and the car-borne assailants fled the scene after the attack, it is alleged.
The Chennai-bound pilgrims, Uday Sankar, Premkumar and Kannan have lodged a complaint before the Chengannur Police with the help of ABASS workers, before they left for Chennai, later, in the afternoon. They have also provided the police with the registration number of the car that carried the assailants.
Police criticised
Mr Rajashekharan alleged that the lackadaisical attitude of the police towards the harassment and attacks on Sabarimala pilgrims reported from different parts of the district during the past six months has been leading to the recurring attacks on the Ayyappa devotees coming from the neighbouring States.
Mr Rajashekharan said the attack on pilgrims from Chennai would give a wrong signal among the Ayyappa devotees in Tamil Nadu on the treatment meted out to the pilgrims coming from outside Kerala. He has alleged a negligent attitude on the part of the Police in ensuring the safety of Sabarimala pilgrims.
The attacks on Sabarimala pilgrims during the Mullapperiyar agitation too should be viewed in this perspective as it has already brought a black mark on the State law-enforcing agency, he alleged.
The car that carried the assailants belonged to a person in Ranni and certain senior police quarters in the district were trying to protect the culprits, Mr Rajashekharan alleged.
