Thiruvananthapuram: Amidst the Sabarimala temple entry row, a man barged into the protest venue of BJP leader CK Padmanabhan and self-immolated in front of the state secretariat building in the wee hours on Thursday.
The victim Venugopalan Nair, a resident of Muttada from a nearby locality, sustained severe burn injuries, has been admitted to the Medical College Hospital.
The incident happened around 2 am when Venugopalan sets himself ablaze and ran towards the makeshift protest venue of BJP leader.
He was taken to the hospital by the BJP workers and police who were present at the venue.
Bhartiya Janata Party leader CK Padmanabhan had been on indefinite strike in front of the Secretariat demanding the left front government to withdraw its ‘anti-devotee’ approach in Sabarimala entry row.
Kerala government is following the Supreme Court order in the temple entry controversy and had imposed restrictions to stop right-wing Hindu outfits to create a law and order issue. On September 28, the apex court in its verdict allowed women of all ages to enter and offer prayers at the Lord Ayappa temple.
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