Devotees say they didn’t damage flag post, only did a ritual

Five devotees arrested for damaging a new goldplated flag post consecrated at the famed Sabarimala temple here have denied sabotage charges and said what they did was a ritual, police said on Monday.

Inspector general Manoj Abraham said the five men from Vijaywada claimed they performed a traditional ritual which they do to newly commissioned things when they threw a cloth dipped in mercury at the flag post on Sunday. “They say it’s a customary ritual in their hometown. There seems to be no inconsistency in their statements. Also, when this happened, they were all taking pictures of it,” Abraham said.

He said police officials from Andhra Pradesh would arrive during the day and that a team of Kerala Police was also leaving for Vijaywada in Andhra Pradesh.

“All five are regular visitors to the Sabarimala temple,” said Abraham.

On Sunday afternoon, these devotees threw the cloth dipped in mercury on the base of the flag post. This led to the gold plating to peel off. They were identified from CCTV footage and caught.

The police have filed a case against them for hurting religious sentiments.

The new flag post was donated by a business group from Andhra Pradesh. It reportedly cost ~3.5 crore. Situated on the mountain ranges of the Western Ghats, the Sabarimala temple is four kilometres uphill from Pamba in Pathanamthitta district, about 100 km from Thiruvananthapuram.

This temple draws a large number of devotees from Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Debts Recovery Tribunal (DRT) officer’s audacious attempt to allegedly demand a bribe of ~7 lakh in cheque was stymied by the CBI, which took him and his associate into custody, an official said on Monday.

BS Sane, a recovery officer with DRT, Mumbai, and his associate Vijay were allegedly demanding the bribe to release the payment of a complainant.

The agency has registered a case on allegations that the recovery officer instructed the complainant to hand over the bribe in the form of a cheque to a private person (middleman) for releasing the payment in favour of his client, CBI spokesperson R K Gaur said. “It was also alleged that the accused introduced the middleman to the complainant and on his instructions a cheque of ~7 lakh was issued and delivered to the middleman,” he said.

A search at Sane’s residence led to fixed deposits worth ~65 lakh, Kisan Vikas Patra worth ~9 lakh and property documents being found. PTI