Hindu Aikya Vedi leader K.P. Sasikala, who was arrested late last night, is expected to visit the Lord Ayyappa Temple at Sabarimala on Saturday. Sasikala, who is in preventive detention, will soon be produced at a local court in Pathanamthitta's Tiruvalla where she will be granted bail. "I will proceed to sannidhanam after I get the bail," Sasikala told the media outside a local police station in Ranni where she was detained early on Saturday.
Sasikala, who was on a pilgrimage to the Ayyappa shrine, was taken into "preventive custody" near Marakkootam, close to Sabarimala, at 2.30 am after she allegedly defied the orders, police said. Police had decided not to allow devotees enter the temple premises when it was closed for the night.
Meanwhile, the state-wide hartal, called by the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) and backed by the BJP to protest against the arrest of Sasikala, affected normalcy in Kerala as thousands of people were stranded due to lack of transportation. Vehicles, including state-run buses, and auto-rickshaws remained off roads in several areas. Incidents of violence by VHP and BJP supporters were also reported from some places.
At the same time, thousands of pilgrims offered prayers at Lord Ayyappa temple in Sabarimala early on Saturday, the first day of Malayalam month of 'Vrischikom'. Pilgrims, including children, queued up in large numbers since the temple opened at 3 am.
Amid unprecedented security, Kerala State Transport Corporation buses were bringing pilgrims from Nilackal to Pamba and no services had been stopped, KSRTC sources said. Shops and hotels near the temple complex were open. KSRTC Managing Director Tomin J. Thachankary said the corporation was running buses in Sabarimala with police protection to help pilgrims reach the temple.
In Balrampuram near Thiruvananthapuram, protesters attacked a KSRTC bus and damaging its windows, he said.
In the state capital, passengers had a tough time in getting vehicles to reach their respective destinations due to the hartal. Many patients and their relatives were unable to reach the regional cancer centre and Thiruvananthapuram medical college hospital.
(With inputs from PTI)