Thiruvananthapuram: The areas near Kurisumala on the outskirts of the city turned into a virtual war zone leaving 22 police personnel and 30 church faithful injured on Friday. Clashes erupted when the police tried to prevent nearly 2,000 people from erecting a cross at Kurisumala in Bonacaud near Vithura, which is a pilgrimage centre under the Neyyattinkara diocese of the Latin Catholic Church.
The police lathicharged the agitators, including priests and women, who pelted stones at the police and tried to pull down the barricades erected to stop their entry into the protected reserve forest area. Cases were registered against the strikers for destroying public property.
The injured, including policemen, were treated at the medical college and at hospitals in Vithura and nearby areas. Five persons, Ignesh, 68 of Vilapilsala, George, 65, of Kattakode, Sister Cristina, 58, of Vattapara, Jose,39, and Anish, 34, were admitted to the MCH for further treatment.
Sources said that the High Court had ordered status quo in a case filed by Prakrithi Samrakshana Vedi under the Hindu Aikyavedi. The police feared that the agitators will place a cross violating the court order.
Earlier, top officials, including DySP Nedumnagad, divisional forest officer and tahsildar who reached the spot had held discussions with the agitators. The tahsildar informed the Church leadership that 15 persons could be allowed into Kurisumala. However, the Church wanted permission for all the believers.
Later, Opposition Leader Ramesh Chennithala intervened and held talks with Forest Minister K. Raju who put forward a formula of allowing two teams of 50 members each. This was also not accepted by the agitators.
Following discussions with the police, the venue of the agitation was shifted to Vithura from near Kanithadam check post near Kurisumala.
The agitators later blocked the state highway near Vithura police station disrupting traffic. The students of the nearby school who were at the bus stop for going home were also held up.
The police resorted to a lathicharge again to disperse the agitators who were arrested and removed later.
The trouble had started in November last year when a wooden cross erected at Kurisumala was found damaged. The faithful used to worship there on Good Friday and the first Friday of January every year. Earlier in August last year, a cross which was believed to have been in Bonacaud 60 years ago was demolished by unidentified persons. The forest officials claimed that the second incident happened because of lightning.
