Sabarimala Gold Heist: Ex-TDB Chief Padmakumar Grilled by SIT
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A Kollam court has granted the special investigation team (SIT) custody of A Padmakumar, former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), for two days in connection with the alleged theft of gold assets at the Sabarimala temple. Padmakumar, a CPI(M) leader and former MLA from Konni, was arrested on November 20 after hours of questioning. The SIT aims to question Padmakumar separately and jointly with N Vasu, another former TDB president, to gather evidence on the potential involvement of TDB officials and even ministers in the gold theft. Padmakumar is accused of consenting to the proposal to renovate the gold-clad sheets covering temple sculptures in 2019, when he was the TDB president. He also faces charges of misidentifying gold-clad copper sheets as 'copper sheets', paving the way for the theft. The opposition, including the Congress and the BJP, have accused Kadakampally Surendran, a senior CPI(M) leader and former temple affairs minister, of being involved in the gold theft case. The SIT has also questioned Kandararu Mohanararu and Kandararu Rajevararu, the chief priests at Sabarimala, about their links with Unnikrishnan Potty, a junior priest who allegedly worked at the temple years ago. The SIT hopes to uncover more evidence in the coming days.
