SIT arrests temple Thanthri Kandararu Rajeevaru in Sabarimala gold loot case

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Friday arrested Sabarimala temple Thanthri (Chief priest) Kandararu Rajeevaru in connection with the Sabarimala gold loot case.

The SIT took Thantri Rajeevaru into custody on Friday morning and questioned him through a team led by ADGP H Venkatesh, who supervises the SIT team. After hours of questioning, the Thantri’s arrest was recorded. Following the arrest, Rajeevaru was taken to the Crime Branch office and will be produced before the Kollam court by evening.

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Though Thanthri Rajeevaru’s role had been under suspicion from the early stages of the investigation, the SIT adopted a highly discreet strategy while proceeding against him. The SIT found that Thantri Rajeevaru had close ties with Unnikrishnan Potty, the main accused in the gold theft case. The SIT has concluded that Unnikrishnan Potty’s connection with Thantri Rajeevaru opened the door for his entry into the Sabarimala temple.

The SIT believes that Thanthri Rajeevaru, a salaried employee of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), falls under the purview of anti-corruption laws.

Meanwhile, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) filed an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR) by consolidating the two charge sheets earlier submitted by the SIT into a single case. The ECIR has been filed under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA).