ED raids 21 places in Kerala, Tamil Nadu, Karnataka in Sabarimala gold theft case

PATHANAMTHITTA: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) is conducting a raid at the house of former devaswom board president A Padmakumar in the Sabarimala gold theft. The raid is being conducted at his house in Aranmula. The ED is simultaneously searching the houses of all the accused in the gold theft case. The search is being conducted at 21 places in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. This is the first action by the ED after the case was registered in the gold theft case.

Searches are also being conducted at the devaswom board headquarters, Smart Creations in Bengaluru, gold trader Govardhan's house, houses of Potty and Tantri, and the house of N Vasu. The bank account details of the accused will also be examined. There is also information that there is a move to freeze the assets of the accused. It is reported that the officers had reached the districts last night.

Meantime, the VSSC scientific test report stated that the gold sheets taken from Sabarimala were mixed with nickel metal when returned. Nickel is a shiny metal with a light gold color. The layers taken contained traces of mercury used to glue them.

The layers returned did not contain any trace of mercury. In addition to nickel, acrylic polymer was mixed in significant quantities.

The SIT report says the extent of the gold theft can be seen by comparing the thickness of the old pure gold layer with the present amount of nickel acrylic polymer.