Sabarimala gold theft; SIT raids houses of D Mani and middleman, interrogation continues

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The special investigation team (SIT) is raiding the house and establishment of D Mani (Diamond Mani, Balamurugan), accused by an expatriate businessman of being involved in the Sabarimala gold theft. D Mani is a native of Dindigul. A raid is also underway at the residence of Sreekrishnan, a native of Virudhunagar, a middleman in the gold theft.

A team led by DySP had reached Dindigul and Virudhunagar the other day after getting a search warrant from the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance Court. The raid is being carried out with the help of Tamil Nadu Police. The SIT team is grilling D Mani and Sreekrishnan. The raids are being conducted at two places in Dindigul and one place in Virudhunagar in the presence of revenue officials.

The investigation team had confirmed the other day that D Mani is Balamurugan of Dindigul. The businessman stated that a gang having links with international mafia smuggled things from Kerala, including Panchaloha idols. The interrogation is to clarify the truth of this.

The expatriate businessman stated that in addition to Sabarimala, the gang also targeted the idols of the Padmanabhaswamy temple. The expatriate businessman's statement is that Mani and his gang were introduced to him by people associated with former Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalithaa. The businessman had revealed that this gang is still moving around with money to smuggle idols.