Police Deliberately Created Rush at Sabarimala, Special Commissioner Tells High Court
An unprecedented surge of pilgrims at Sabarimala in recent days was deliberately caused by the police, according to a report submitted to the Kerala High Court. The report was filed by Sabarimala Special Commissioner R. Jayakrishnan, who stated that pilgrims were intentionally allowed to enter the Sannidhanam without virtual queue passes or spot bookings.
Taking serious note of the findings, the High Court has sought an explanation from the police on why pilgrims without valid bookings were permitted to proceed.
According to the report, the first 41 days of the pilgrimage season passed without any major issues. Problems began only after the temple opened for the Makaravilakku festival. The report warns that in the event of any disaster, full responsibility would lie with the Devaswom Board and the police.
The report points out that pilgrims who arrived at Nilakkal for spot booking were directed by the police to proceed to Pamba. However, as there was no spot booking facility available at Pamba, this led to a crisis situation. Large groups of pilgrims gathered at Pamba and were then allowed to proceed to the Sannidhanam without any effective crowd control. This has been described as a serious security lapse.
25 Percent Pilgrims Without Booking
The report questions how more pilgrims than the permissible capacity were allowed into Sabarimala. It concludes that the heavy rush witnessed over the past four days was artificially created. Since the opening of the temple for Makaravilakku, more than one lakh pilgrims have been reaching Sabarimala every day, of whom around 25 percent did not have any booking.
While the combined capacity of virtual and spot booking allows only 80,000 pilgrims per day, a total of 1,05,680 pilgrims reportedly visited on Monday alone. The report raises serious concerns over how this excess was allowed.
With six days remaining for Makaravilakku, the report warns that allowing pilgrims without passes could lead to grave consequences. It strongly recommends that pilgrims without virtual or spot bookings should not be permitted to proceed to Sabarimala.
The report also recalls that at the beginning of the Mandala season, failures in police control allowed pilgrims to reach the Sannidhanam through all routes, resulting in waiting times of over 10 hours to climb the sacred 18 steps. Similar situations, it notes, have been occurring over the past few days as well.