Amidst continuing protests against the entry of women into the Sabarimala temple in Kerala, a police release has revealed that 1,718 people have been arrested and 1,108 cases have been registered over the past two days of the agitation, reports The Hindu.

Sporadic outbreaks of violence continued on Friday (5 January 2019), including an attack on the house of CPI (M) MLA from Thalaserry A N Shamseer; a bike-borne assailant had thrown a crude bomb into the residence at around 10.15 pm.

Shamseer was not at home during the attack, as he was attending a peace meeting. The CPI (M) has laid the blame for the incident on the BJP.

In a separate incident, the house of board member of the Malabar Devaswom (temple administration) K Sasikumar at Perambra in Kozhikode was similarly targeted with bombs.

Multiple tit-for-tat attacks on politicians’ houses occurred at Pathanamthitta, where a mobile shop was also targeted with explosives. In Kattakada, a BJP leader’s house was attacked by vandals associated with the CPI (M).

Kerala Police have tried to contain the situation by declaring prohibitory orders in some places, such as in Nedumangad and Valiyamala of the Thiruvananthapuram district. In the Malayinkeezhu area, a police raid uncovered crude bombs concealed in a school building.