#SabarimalaRow: Tantri family member Rahul Easwar arrested
What's the story
On Sunday morning, Sabarimala tantri family member and activist Rahul Easwar was arrested by the Kerala Police in Kochi, in the crackdown on protesters demonstrating against the Supreme Court's Sabarimala verdict.
Notably, since the crackdown started on October 26, over 3,346 people have been arrested, and over 517 cases have been registered in police stations across Kerala.
Here are the details.
Details
Easwar was arrested for 'spilling blood' contingency plan
Easwar's arrest came after police received a complaint alleging that Easwar had made provocative comments on the issue of women's entry to the temple at a press conference in Kochi last week.
Easwar had claimed that the Sabarimala priests had a contingency plan to close the temple to prevent women from entering by inflicting knife injuries on themselves and spilling blood in the temple.
Quote
Easwar's plan to force the Sabarimala temple to shut down
"Had their [the priests'] blood fallen on the floor of the temple, that would have forced the priests to shut the shrine for three days for purification rituals," Easwar had allegedly said.
More arrests
More arrests are being reported as time passes
Meanwhile, in the last 12 hours, over 500 arrests were recorded in Kerala's Pathanamthitta district - where the Sabarimala temple is located - as well as in the districts of Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode and Ernakulam.
Defending the arrests, Kerala CPI(M) secretary Kodiyeri Balakrishnan told the press on Sunday that the arrests were normal, considering that the protesters had breached rule of law in the state.