Thiruvananthapuram: Meticulous planning by cops for seven days and perfect timing helped the two young women on Wednesday enter the Sabarimala shrine, which prohibits women of child-bearing age from visiting the deity.
According to sources, the two young women – Kanakadurga (44) from Angadipuram in Malappuram district and Bindu (42) from Koyilandy in Kozhikode district – first attempted to reach Sabarimala temple on December 24, 2018 but had to turn back following protests.
After this, the cops sought help from the home department but were asked to wait for further instructions. The duo were put up at a place in Kottayam district and their residence was changed frequently.
Sources said Kottayam superintendent of police Hari Shankar was in charge of the operation, which was known only to top officers in the state.
The two women were admitted to Kottayam Medical College after their first attempt to reach the Sabarimala temple was foiled. At the hospital, they expressed their desire to make another effort to pray at the shrine.
Subsequently, they were kept under the care of women police officers. They were provided accommodation at a secret location and were not allowed to make any contact with others.
The government on New Year Day evening decided to let the women reach the temple. The instructions were given to the police officers concerned.
Intelligence DIG S Surendran, who was in charge of security at Nilakkal, Vadasserikkara and Erumely, Kozhikode rural police chief G Jayadev and Crime Branch SP P B Rajeev, who were the police controllers at Sannidhanam, were roped in to implement the plan.
The police officers, who were present at Pamba at that time were KAP Battalion (V) Commandant Karthikeyan Gokulachandran and Crime Branch SP Shaji Sugunan. All of them were informed about the arrival of the two women.
Apart from the less than 20 police personnel who were in charge of the security of the women, no other officer was aware of the operation. The officials concerned kept the DGP in the loop always.
The two women were taken along the tractor route to Sannidhanam accompanied by police personnel in mufti. The women took the path set apart for Devaswom employees and reached the flag staff in front of the shrine.
Within five minutes, they entered the temple, prayed in front of the shrine and returned by the same path they had taken to reach the Sannidhanam.
Later, BJP and other Hindu organisation slammed the government for plotting and facilitating the visit of the women to the shrine.
