About 266 people arrested, 334 others taken into preventive custody; police launch special drive to take action against those indulging in violent protests
Police disperse activists during a protest after two women entered the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, near the police commissioner's office in Kochi, on Thursday. Pic/AFP
As many as 266 people have so far been arrested in connection with the violent protests staged by right wing groups in the last two days after two women of menstruating age entered the Sabarimala temple, police said on Thursday."
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A group of 334 people were taken under preventive custody, they added. As the state continued to witness massive violence due to the 'hartal' called by Hindu outfits, the police launched a special drive, 'Operation Broken Window' to take action against those indulging in violent protests, they said.
The special branch would prepare the list of those indulging in violence and hand it over to the district police chiefs for further action, the police said in a release. A photo album of the perpetrators of violence would also be prepared, the release said, adding that special teams would be set up to arrest those agitators involved in violence.
Mobile phones of suspected persons would be confiscated and sent for digital examination and raids would be carried out at their homes, to unearth arms, if any, it said. Cases would be registered against those involved in alleged hate campaign on social media, it added.
The state is on a boil since Wednesday when two women — Bindu and Kanakadurga — in their forties, trekked the Ayyappa temple at Sabarimala and offered prayers, taking everyone by surprise.
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