Man held for temple desecration

The police on Saturday arrested one person in connection with the desecration of Sree Villoth Maha Temple at Pookkottumpadam near Nilambur.

The police said S.S. Mohan Kumar, hailing from Kilimanoor, Thiruvananthapuram, was involved in several crimes, including another temple attack and a murder.

He reportedly admitted to vandalising the Sreekovil of the temple in the early hours of Saturday. He was booked under IPC 153-A for promoting enmity between religious groups and IPC 295 for defiling place of worship with intent to insult the religion of a group. He will be produced in court on Monday.

The police said Mohan Kumar had been behind the attack on Banapuram Devi Temple at Vaniyambalam a few months ago. He had desecrated the sanctum sactorum of the temple and destroyed the deity.

The police said they were examining his involvement in many other cases. He had undergone a jail sentence of six months for attacking the police at Nilambur about 10 years ago.

The police took him into custody with the help of the Villoth temple authorities. Some of the temple officials had noticed him at Pookkottumpadam on the previous day of the desecration.