Sabarimala gold theft: More high-ups to be arrested soon

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has indicated that more high-ups may be arrested in the Sabarimala gold theft case. The team is expected to soon arrest Devaswom Board officials in connection with the theft of gold from the Sreekovil door frame. Two former Devaswom Board presidents are also under investigation. The main accused, Murari Babu, is being questioned in detail to understand their involvement.

Some of the accused have stated that the falsification of records was done on the instructions of former Devaswom Commissioner N. Vasu. Meanwhile, the SIT has seized a letter written in September 2019 by R. G. Radhakrishnan, who was then the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner. In the letter, he warned that valuable items at Sabarimala were at risk of being stolen. He wrote the letter after visiting Smart Creations in Chennai. Investigators believe that the Devaswom Board’s failure to act on this warning may have helped enable the gold theft.

In another development, a controversial police inspector who was added to the investigation team has now been removed after the Crime Branch chief H. Venkatesh intervened. SHO Sivakumar, who had earlier faced action for allegedly wrongfully detaining a Dalit woman in a fake necklace theft case at Peroorkada, had just joined the SIT yesterday. After public controversy over his appointment, the ADGP announced that Sivakumar was being removed. After the Peroorkada incident, he had been transferred to Kozhikode.