Five persons were taken into custody by the Pampa police for pouring a liquid on the gold-covered base (Panchavargathara) of the newly installed temple mast at Sabarimala on Sunday afternoon.
The incident occurred immediately after the culmination of the installation ceremony. The master craftsmen of the new mast present at the Sanidhanam have identified the liquid as mercury and the sheen of gold in the small portion of the Panchavargathara that came in contact with it has been blurred, causing panic among the Devaswom authorities as well as devotees.
The police traced the culprits from Pampa on the basis of a CCTV footage showing them pouring the liquid on the temple mast.
The Superintendent of Police, Satheesh Bino, told The Hindu that the five persons, reportedly hailing from Vujjuru in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh, have stated that the pouring of the liquid, which they named ‘Paadarasom’, as it being a custom in their hometown to pour it along with the `Navadhanya’. The police also recovered a small bottle of liquid from them.
Mr. Bino said the five persons in police custody have also claimed themselves who have been undertaking the Sabarimala pilgrimage for the past several years. There were also reports that one of them had even tried to climb on the temple mast, earlier.
The newly installed temple mast covered with gold worth a total of ₹ 3.2 crore has been sponsored by a Hyderabad-based company, Phoenix Infratech Private Limited.
The Police have registered a case and all the five taken into custody were taken to Pathanamthitta for questioning, the SP said.
Experts inspect site
Meanwhile, experts from the Forensic Laboratory in Thiruvananthapuram have inspected the site on Sunday night. They have collected samples and prepared the mahazar .
The mastercraftsmen conducted acid wash and removed the mercury from the affected portion of the Panchavargathara late in the night after obtaining permission from the temple chief priest (Tantri). The rectification work was completed in the wee hours of Monday.
IB investigation under way
The Central Intelligence Bureau too have started investigation into the throwing of mercury at the newly installed holy temple mast at Sabarimala. The IB sources told The Hindu that a special team was probing the antecedents of the five persons, especially in the backdrop of the threat facing Sabarimala from certain extremist groups.
Meanwhile, a team of Andhra Police too was expected to reach Pathanamthitta as part of the investigation on Monday, IB sources said. The IB is also exploring the possibility of any Naxalite angle to the incident, sources said.
