12 hours of search in Padmakumar's house completed; Crucial documents seized?

PATHANAMTHITTA: The search conducted in the house of former Devaswom Board President A Padmakumar in the Sabarimala gold theft case was completed. The Special Investigation Team’s search in Aranmula was completed by midnight.

In the search that lasted more than 12 hours, it is reported that crucial documents were seized. Padmakumar was arrested on Thursday evening. The investigation team suspects that Padmakumar paved the way for Unnikrishnan Potty to loot the gold from Sabarimala.

It was Padmakumar who first suggested to the board that they hand over the gold plates to Potty. Members K P Shankaradas and A Vijayakumar turned up with an argument that the board alone could not take such a decision. This impeded the move to transfer the gold plates to Potty.

The file was then processed as an official document with the recommendation of the officials. Murari Babu, who was the administrative officer, took the helm. For this, Padmakumar went to the offices of the board officials and exerted pressure. The file was submitted to the board with the recommendations of the administrative officer, executive officer, Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, and Devaswom Commissioner.

Meanwhile, it is reported that the special investigation team will question N Vijayakumar and KP Shankaradas again. Earlier, the investigation team had conducted preliminary questioning of both of them.