Probe sought into actress Jayamala's claim

Thiruvananthapuram, July 5: The Travancore Devaswom Employees' Confederation today urged the government to take immediate steps to conduct a comprehensive probe into the claim of Kannada actress Jayamala that she had entered the Sabarimala temple and touched the Ayyappa idol.

As the actress had confessed that she had touched the Ayyappa idol and was ready to accept any punishment, the Government should order for her arrest and institute a detailed inquiry to bring out the truths, Confederation president R Shaji Sharma told reporters.

The Sabarimala Ayyappa temple is one of the important temples in the world and such "false claims" could be seen only as a challenge to the century-old traditions and customs of the hill shrine, he said.

Mr Sharma said the Confederation did not think that the truths could be brought out through a probe by the intelligence wing of the Travancore Devaswom Board alone as it was suspected that some inter-state mafia was trying to vilify the temple's fame.

He also said there was a chance to suspect that Jayamala and astrologer Unnikrishna Panicker had made a secret pact in the recent 'Devaprasnam' held at Sabarimala recently.

Demanding for a fresh 'Devaprasnam' involving experts in astrology, he said no private sponsorship required for such temple activities.

UNI

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