Sabarimala gold theft: Jail doctors to examine remanded Sankaradas, decision on shifting hospital soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A decision will be taken today on shifting K P Sankaradas, remanded in the Sabarimala gold theft case, to a different hospital. Sankaradas is presently undergoing treatment at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram. The decision to shift him to another hospital or to the jail will be taken after the jail doctor arrives at the private hospital and examine him.

Kollam Vigilance Court judge remanded Sankaradas for 12 days last evening after arriving at the hospital. The SIT found that the gold sheets were given to Unnikrishnan Potty with Sankaradas' knowledge. Sankaradas had signed all the relevant documents. The SIT is of the opinion that the devaswom board is jointly responsible for the gold theft. The investigation team reached to Sankaradas following the statement of Padmakumar, former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, who was arrested earlier.

Sankaradas is the 11th accused in the case. The court had criticized the Special Investigation Team for the delay in arresting Sankaradas. Sankaradas was undergoing treatment in the ICU of a private hospital for the past few days. After shifting him to a room, investigating officer SP Sasidharan reached the hospital and registered his arrest. The information of his arrest was immediately informed to the court through the prosecutor.