Sabarimala gold scam: Kollam court sent former TDB president Padmakumar to 2 day custody

Kollam: The probe team investigating the gold and artefact theft case in Sabarimala has been given 2 more days for questioning former TDB president A Padmakumar.

The move comes after the SIT has managed to find crucial information from certain top members of the TDB and those associated with the temple.

The Vigilance Court sent former Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar to the custody of the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the alleged misappropriation of gold-plated artefacts meant for Sabarimala.

He will remain in SIT custody till 5 pm on Thursday.

The prosecution sought his custody, stating that crucial information still needed to be extracted from him.

The SIT also informed the court that the investigation report would soon be submitted to the Kerala High Court and that questioning Padmakumar was essential at this stage.

However, the defence argued that custody was unnecessary as Padmakumar had been cooperating with the probe.

The prosecution countered that he had ignored three notices to appear before the investigators. The court accepted the prosecution’s argument and granted custody.

Shortly after the order, BJP workers blocked the vehicle transporting Padmakumar for medical examination outside the court complex. Police removed the protestors, and the vehicle later left the premises.

Padmakumar has been lodged in judicial remand at the District Sub Jail in Thiruvananthapuram following his arrest last week after hours of questioning at the Crime Branch office in Enchakkal.

The SIT has named him the eighth accused in the second case related to missing gold from the Sreekovil door frames.

However, the CPI(M) leadership has decided not to take any disciplinary action against Padmakumar till the SIT submits the final charge-sheet in the high court.