Sabarimala gold theft; Investigation to extend to more people, ED sends notice to Jayashree, Kalpesh

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has sent notices to two more people in the Sabarimala gold theft case. The notices were sent to former devaswom secretary S Jayashree and Kalpesh, a middleman in the gold theft. They have been asked to appear for questioning next week. It was Kalpesh who gave the envelope containing the gold from Smart Creations in Chennai to Govardhan, a jeweler in Bellary and an accused in the case. The finding against Jayashree was that she made corrections in the minutes.

The ED will question actor Jayaram on February 17 in the Sabarimala gold theft. The notice issued has asked him to appear at the office in Kadavanthra. The door frames of Sabarimala, taken by the main accused Unnikrishnan Potty for repairs, were taken to Jayaram's Chennai house and a pooja was performed. Jayaram has a long-standing acquaintance with Potty. The ED is seeking an explanation regarding these. It is also investigating whether there were any business dealings between the two. Jayaram had earlier explained that he met Potty in Sabarimala and had no other connections.

Meantime, the Supreme Court had yesterday rejected the bail plea of Govardhan, an accused in the case. A bench comprising Justices Dipankar Datta and Satish Chandra Sharma had taken the stand that it could not interfere as the investigation was ongoing. The court also refused to cancel the Kerala High Court verdict of denying bail.

Govardhan had sought bail in two cases. Govardhan argued through his lawyer that he has been a devotee of Lord Ayyappa for over 20 years and has donated more than Rs 80 lakh to the Sabarimala temple, but the Supreme Court did not accept it. The court clarified that donations are different from gold theft. It added that it cannot be said that a donor does not commit theft. The crime is that Govardhan bought gold from Unnikrishnan Potty.