Women cops above 50 at Sabarimala, but not selected on age basis: Top cop clarifies

PTI photo

Thiruvananthapuram: For the first time, as many as 15 women police personnel were stationed at the doors of the Sabarimala Temple premises as part of security arrangements on Monday. The women cops, all aged above 50, also offered prayers. Authorities, however, claimed that the women police personnel have not been deployed on the basis of their age but eligibility.

"They're all inspector and SI. We've brought eligible police officers, didn't choose on basis of their age," IG Ajith, Sabarimala security in-charge said.

Kerala: For the 1st time, 15 women cops deployed in #SabarimalaTemple premises, also offered prayers."They're all inspector&SI. We've brought eligible police officers,didn't choose on basis of their age": IG Ajith,Sabarimala security in-charge on why all of them were above 50 yrs pic.twitter.com/q5P7e4q3ij

— ANI (@ANI) November 5, 2018

He further said, "We've made adequate security arrangements for facilitating 'darshan' of all devotees. We have various threats in this area, taking into consideration various threat perceptions, we've provided security arrangements for everyone."

Amid tight security, the shrine has been opened for two days for the devotees on Monday. The temple will be closed after the 'Athazha puja' scheduled to be held on Tuesday evening.

The devotees of Lord Ayyappa climbed the sacred Pathinettam Padi to enter the temple to offer prayers. They had begun the trek from Nilakkal base camp to the hill shrine of Sabarimala, earlier in the day.

The Sabarimala Temple and its surrounding areas witnessed a series of protests in October over the Supreme court's decision to quash restrictions on the entry of women between the ages of 10 and 50 into the holy shrine.