Reports indicate that the SIT has confirmed that D Mani’s real name is Balamurugan, a native of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. He is also known as Diamond Mani. The SIT’s interrogation will continue on Thursday, too.
File Photo: IANS
The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing the Sabarimala temple gold heist, has traced ‘D Mani’ — who was mentioned by former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala and an NRI businessman as the key suspect alleged to have a connection with international antique smuggling rackets — in Chennai, and interrogated him in connection with the case.
Reports indicate that the SIT has confirmed that D Mani’s real name is Balamurugan, a native of Dindigul in Tamil Nadu. He is also known as Diamond Mani. The SIT’s interrogation will continue on Thursday, too.
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The SIT is trying to find answers to questions such as whether D Mani has roots in Kerala and whether Mani and his team carried out a transaction to smuggle Panchaloha idols in the Sabarimala temple.
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Earlier, on December 18, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) recorded the statement of an NRI businessman based on a revelation by Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala.
Ramesh Chennithala had told the SIT that the NRI businessman informed him about the alleged involvement of an international antique racket in the loss of gold from the Sabarimala temple. Based on this disclosure, the SIT contacted the businessman and recorded his statement in Thiruvananthapuram.
Ramesh Chennithala, on December 7, raised serious allegations with regard to the Sabarimala gold heist case and sought an inquiry into the possible links between international antique smuggling rackets with it. He said he received credible inputs that the missing gold plates at the hill shrine were traded in the international black market for around Rs 500 crore.
The statement given by the NRI businessman on Wednesday to the SIT is said to be shocking. The NRI businessman, in his statement, reportedly said that D Mani and a high-ranking official in Kerala smuggled Panchaloha idols, and in return, D Mani handed over about Rs 500 crore to a high-ranking official with political connections. Unnikrishnan Potti, the accused in the gold theft case, was the middleman.
The NRI businessman’s statement also stated that D Mani and his gang not only target the Sabarimala temple, but the gang also aims to conduct a transaction worth Rs 1,000 crore in Kerala. The gang handed over Rs 500 crore for smuggling the Panchaloha idols in Sabarimala. The remaining Rs 500 crore was earmarked for smuggling valuables from the Padmanabha Swamy temple in Thiruvananthapuram. However, this did not happen, the NRI businessman’s statement reportedly stated.
The SIT is questioning D Mani in detail to find out whether such a large transaction took place as stated in the statement of the NRI businessman
Meanwhile, Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Thursday demanded a CBI investigation under the supervision of the High Court in the Sabarimala gold loot case. He said since the case involves international groups, the SIT will have limitations in its investigation. “Therefore, we are demanding a CBI investigation under court supervision in the case,” Chennithala said.
In this connection, BJP Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar raised more serious allegations of theft from the Ayyappa temple. He alleged that the gold theft from the Sabarimala temple was extensive and that even parts of the sacred 18 steps were also stolen.
Investigations have revealed that the Left Front’s Devaswom Board also smuggled four more Panchaloha idols from Sabarimala and sold them to international criminal gangs, and therefore, a CBI probe is necessary in the case, he said.
“An SIT investigation alone will not reveal the whole truth. A CBI investigation is essential for that,” the BJP Kerala chief said.
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