Kerala government hotel attacked in Chennai, police suspect Sabarimala backlash

Police sources said some unidentified people pelted stones at the hotel run by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) at around 10:40 pm on Wednesday in the busy Greams Road at Thousand Night.

A hotel run by the Kerala government in Tamil Nadu’s Chennai was attacked by unidentified people late on Wednesday night, in what police said could be a backlash by angry devotees against the entry of two women in Sabarimala temple.

Police patrol during clashes between Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) and Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) in front of the Kerala Government Secretariatat in Thiruvnanthapuram on January 2. (AFP Photo)

Some unidentified people pelted stones at the hotel run by Kerala Tourism Development Corporation (KTDC) at around 10:40 pm on Wednesday in the busy Greams Road at Thousand Night, police sources said.

“Wall glasses and entry point security check rooms have been damaged in this attack. We are suspecting that the attack could have happened as an outcome after two fertile women below 50 have entered into the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple,” a senior police official said.

The official also said they have been scrutinising the footage of closed-circuit television (CCTV) cameras in the hotel.

“It could be the members of some fringe religious outfits who have done this. As we have launched the probe, we would nab the accused soon. In order to prevent such incidents in the city, over 100 policemen have been deployed at various Kerala government’s premises in Chennai,” the officer said.

In Kerala, widespread violence was reported across the state as a shutdown began on Thursday, day after two women under the age of 50 managed to enter the Sabarimala temple. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had called for a two-day protest against the women’s entry in the Sabarimala temple under police protection.