The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala temple gold heist conducted a raid at the residence of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A. Padmakumar, who was arrested on Friday for his alleged involvement in the case.
The SIT suspects that the conspiracy behind the gold heist may have been hatched at his residence in Aranmula.
According to the remand report submitted to the court, Padmakumar was aware that the panels of the sanctum sanctorum and the Dwarapalaka idols of the Sabarimala temple were plated with gold, yet he miscategorised them as copper casings.
Although he knew that the copper plates contained gold sheets, he deliberately struck off the reference to “brass” in the TDB note and, in his own handwriting, replaced the term “gold-plated copper plates” with “copper plates.”
He then wrote “approved” and signed the document, thereby failing in his official duty. The TDB subsequently took its decision on the basis of this altered description, the remand report states.
Meanwhile, the SIT is set to question former Devaswom Minister Kadakampally Surendran in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case.
Padmakumar’s statement that the government had also instructed him to look into the issue of handing over the gold-plated sheets to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, has brought Kadakampally under further scrutiny.
In this context, the BJP has demanded the immediate arrest of Kadakampally Surendran. Former BJP Kerala chief K Surendran on Friday accused Kadakampally of playing a key role in the alleged theft of gold from the Sabarimala temple and called for his prompt arrest.
“The SIT’s probe can be credible only if Kadakampally is arrested immediately,” Surendran told media persons in Kozhikode.
He further alleged that Kadakampally, who served as Devaswom Minister in the first Pinarayi Vijayan government, conspired with prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and former TDB president A Padmakumar to “plunder” gold dedicated to Lord Ayyappa.