Subrahmanya, December 6: The bundh, called by various organisations favouring 'Made Snana' at Kukke Subrahmanya temple on Monday, was peaceful.
Hundreds of protesters, including students, took out a rally to register their support for continuing the controversial ritual, which has been widely criticised as superstitious and perpetuating the evils of caste system. They demanded that the sanctity of the temple should be maintained in the wake of protests by those who were against the ritual.
Astrologer Kabyadi Jayaramacharya, addressing the protesters, said that Malekudiyas, who form the majority of devotees observing the ritual, have a special place in the history of the Subramanya temple. He said the 'Made Snana' is performed voluntarily by them and they should not be forced to stop it, he added.
Majority of the shops had downed the shutters, aside from shops selling pooja items, silver articles, medical stores and a hospital.
Though buses plied as usual, autorickshaw, jeep and car drivers supported the bundh by suspending their services.
As the hotels served breakfast free of cost, the devotees from other places were not affected by the bundh.
The kidnapped schoolboy was rescued by the police and reunited with his parents. Son of a gift shop owner from Basavanagudi area in Bengaluru, Chirag has reportedly told police that decided to make some quick money to spend on cricket betting and gambling after learning kidnap tricks from the ‘Crime Patrol’. According to police, Chirag reached a private school around 3pm on Tuesday on a Bounce rental bike and zeroed in on a fourth standard student who was walking out of school. He told the boy he was his father's friend and that he required help to search for a relative who had gone missing. The boy believed Chirag and rode pillion on the bike. Chirag then engaged the boy in conversation and learnt about his father's business and got his mobile phone number. He then made a call to the boy's father, demanded Rs 5 lakh and warned him against approaching cops. However, the boy's father alerted Cottonpet police and special teams were formed to crack the case. While Cottonpet inspector Venkatesh TC's squad verified CCTV footage in and around the school, Chamarajpet inspector BG Kumaraswamy's team started tracking the suspect's mobile phone movements. An hour later, the suspect's location was traced to a hotel on the Lavelle Road-St Mark's Road stretch. Police rushed there, rescued the boy and arrested Chirag.
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