Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], November 23 : Authorities said on Sunday that the crowd situation at Sabrimala is entirely under control and are planning to add the number of virtual queue slots
Travancore Devaswom Board President K Jayakumar said, "The crowd situation at Sabarimala is completely under control. Even though today is Sunday, the expected rush did not occur. Devotees are fully cooperating with the arrangements. Spot booking will be regulated based on the day's situation, and we will consider increasing the number of virtual queue slots."
Meanwhile, Congress MLA and the Leader of Opposition VD Satheesan on Sunday slammed the CPI(M)-led Kerala government after the party leader and former Travancore Devaswom Board President A Padmakumar was remanded to judicial custody for 14 days in the Sabarimala gold theft case.
Speaking to ANI, Satheesan said that the CPI(M) earlier tried to distance itself from the controversy, but now the court is 'suspecting' the Kerala government in the case.
"Initially, the CPI(M) Secretary and other members defended that it was only done by Unnikrishnan Potti (prime accused). The opposition insisted that apart from him, other board members appointed by CPI(M) Ministers, responsible for Devaswom, were involved in this gold pilferage," Satheesan said.
Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused, was reportedly taken into custody by the SIT on October 17.
"The HC and police team now found that they are all culprits and are going to jail. The HC directed the SIT they constituted to submit the report only to the HC, not the government, which clears that the court suspects the government also," the Congress leader added.
The temple will close for the season on January 20 after darshan for the Palace representative.