Kochi: Ayyappa Dharma Sena president Rahul Easwar was arrested on Sunday for making provocative statements on the Sabarimala row.
He was arrested from his flat. A case was registered against Rahul, who belongs to the Thazhamon family of Sabarimala tantris, on the basis of a complaint filed by a Kochi native, the police said.
A court here granted him conditional bail later in the day.
He has been charged under IPC Section 153 (Wantonly giving provocation with intent to cause riot).
Rahul, among those who spearheaded the frenzied protests in Sabarimala, had said they had a contingency plan to force the closure of the temple by spilling blood on its premises by some devotees in case any woman in the 'barred' age group managed to reach it.
He had claimed that 20 devotees opposing the entry of women in the age group of 10 and 50 were ready to inflict knife injuries on themselves on the temple premises which would have forced the priests to close the gates on account of impurity.
"Had their blood fallen on the floor of the temple, that would have forced the priests to shut the shrine for three days for purification rituals," Rahul had told reporters.
BJP state president P S Sreedharan Pillai Sunday lashed out at the police action against Easwar. "BJP condemns the police action on Rahul Easwar and also those associated wit the protests over the Sabarimala issue," he told reporters.
The temple had witnessed high drama with around a dozen women being prevented from entering the temple by protesters after the doors were opened for all women following the Supreme Court verdict.
Rahul Easwar and 19 others were arrested in connection with the protests at Sabariamala and nearby areas on October 18. He was let off on bail last week.
The Kerala High Court had Thursday dismissed a Public Interest Litigation seeking a ban on the entry of women in the child-bearing group into the Sabarimala shrine till additional facilities were set up for them, and said the petitioner can approach the Supreme Court.
On September 28, a five-judge Constitution bench of the SC, headed by then Chief Justice Dipak Misra, had lifted the centuries-old ban on the entry of women of child-bearing group into the shrine.
