| Published on 05-10-2006 In National |
| Viewed 993 times |
| Sabarimala tantri sinks deeper into the pit |
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Written by
Kumar Chellappan |
The criminal case relating to the attack on the former Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Mohanararu took a new turn on Tuesday with Abdul 'Bechu' Rehman, one of the accused, surrendering to the police. Rehman, the fourth accused in the case, told reporters on Monday night, that the incident involving the thantri at the Link Lakshman apartments at Kochi was stage-managed by the thantri himself. "The thantri asked me to arrange a kidnap drama and I obliged him by mobilizing a couple of persons. He had assured me of protection in case of any police probe, but let me down badly when the bubble burst," Rahman told various news channels in live phone-in programmes which were telecast as part of news bulletins.
A small-time TV and movie actor, Rahman was absconding for the last one month. He has now disclosed that he was in hiding at various places in Kerala as per the instructions of thantri Mohanaruru. The boldness with which Rahman spoke to the media and that too in live news, only showed he has influential friends to protect and look after his interests.
Later on Tuesday, Rahman was remanded to police custody till October 12. This is the latest episode involving Mohanaruru who is in the eye of a storm for wrong reasons. The police had earlier arrested Sobha John, the owner of the apartment where the thantri was alleged to have been taken at gun point. Investigations showed that he had gone there on his own and was a regular visitor for quite some time.
The initial allegation by the thantri was that he was kidnapped and was forcibly photographed nude in the company of some women. But the charges came down like a pack of cards following a probe by the police. He made a hasty retreat and filed another complaint that he was assaulted by Sobha John and Rehman. Taken aback by the failure of his charges, the thantri resorted to the latest trick alleging that the attack against him was part of an international conspiracy targeting the holy shrine of Sabarimala.
But with more and more community leaders questioning the legality and veracity of his charges, the Thazhaman Madom, which holds the hereditary right to appoint the temple thantri, dumped Mohanaruru and appointed his cousin Rajeevaru in his place. Vellappalli Natesan, the outspoken general secretary of the Sree Narayaneeya Dharma Paripalana Yogam (SNDP), the powerful Eezhava community organization, alleged that Mohanaruru was a 'sleazy' character.
With the surrender of Rehman now, more and more dirty reports about people in high places are expected to roll out in the coming weeks. The holy shrine of Sabarimala will continue to hog the limelight because of the name-calling and mud-slinging in which the leading characters are the high-profile astrologer Unnikrishna Pamicker and the thantri family of Thazamon.
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