Sabarimala: Police told mediapersons to vacate Sannidhanam, Pamba

Sabarimala, Oct 22: Police officials informed media in Sannidhanam and Pamba to vacate the area as police had inputs of a targeted attack being planned on the media.

Sabarimala's first pilgrim season ends today. No women were allowed to enter after the Supreme Court lifted the ban on the entry of women of menstrual age. Ten women aged below 50 were stopped by angry devotees from praying at the 800-year-old hilltop shrine in Kerala's Patthanamthitta district since it opened on Wednesday (Oct 17).

Last week, mediapersons covering the protests near Kerala's Sabarimala temple were attacked.

In fact, four media organisations were targeted -- in some cases in presence of the police. Republic TV's Pooja Prasanna was beaten with sticks, Saritha S Balan from The News Minute was kicked on the spine.

Also, midway through live telecast of the events, NDTV was stopped from covering the protests -- reporter Sneha Mary Koshy and cameraperson SP Babu were heckled and asked to leave, their camera was snatched. Personnel from CNN-News 18 and Aaj Tak were also targeted.