Sabarimala gold case: SIT arrest former administrative officer S Sreekumar

Sabarimala: In a major development in the court monitored probe on the missing gold in Sabarimala temple, The SIT arrested former TDB administrative officer S Sreekumar.

Sreekumar's arrest comes barely two weeks after the Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, saying that the allegations against him were made out.

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Along with him, the anticipatory bail plea of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) secretary S Jayasree was also rejected.

The court had said that if the two accused were granted pre-arrest bail, the entire probe into the loss of gold from the shrine would collapse, and effective investigation "would become meaningless".

The court had also said that both Sreekumar and Jayasree were well aware that the plates were originally gold-clad, but signed the documents that referred to them as made of copper.

The special investigation team (SIT) appointed by the court is probing the cases involving gold lost from the gold-clad plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames.

Sreekumar is the seventh person to be arrested in connection with the two cases.

Prior to him, six others, including prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and former TDB presidents N Vasu and A Padmakumar, have been arrested in the two cases.

SIT records statement of Ramesh Chennithala

The SIT probing the Sabarimala gold loss case recorded the statement of senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala. Chennithala had recently approached the Special Investigation Team, stating that he wished to disclose certain information regarding the alleged involvement of an international racket in the Sabarimala gold loss incident.

Speaking to reporters after giving his statement, Chennithala said he had provided all the information available to him to the SIT. He clarified that the material he shared did not constitute evidence, but rather information he had received in his capacity as a public representative.

"It is now the responsibility of the SIT to further investigate and ascertain the facts," he said. Chennithala added that the information he received regarding the gold loss case was shared with him by a businessman.

"Whether the businessman who provided me the information should be summoned is for the investigating officers to decide," he said.