A group of ten women who reached Pamba and planned to head to the Sabarimala temple were sent back by the police on Saturday, a short while before it reopened.

Police said the women hailing from Vijayawada reached Pamba along with a larger group of devotees. Sensing protests from other devotees, police briefed the women about the volatile law and order situation prevailing in Sabarimala.

"They immediately decided to stay back while male devotees in the group proceeded to the temple to offer prayers," said a senior police officer at Pamba.

Cops also checked the age proof of the women devotees in the group.

Every year, a few young women from Andhra Pradesh have been coming to Pamba to trek to Sabarimala without knowing about the temple's age-old custom.

"It's the usual practice of pilgrims from Andhra Pradesh to take their women family members along with them to temples in Kerala for darshan. After visiting other temples, they reach Sabarimala," officers said, adding that they could not risk allowing the women to proceed to Sabarimala because intelligence inputs had revealed that members of a few outfits were ready to disrupt the peace if any young woman was found heading towards the temple.