Vigilance court orders ED to register case and investigate Sabarimala gold theft

KOLLAM: The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will register a case and investigate the Sabarimala gold theft. The Kollam Vigilance Court has ordered that all documents related to the gold theft be handed over to the ED. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) had opposed the ED conducting a parallel investigation in the case. The court has rejected this and has ordered in favor. The SIT has been directed to hand over the remand reports and copies of the FIR of those arrested in the case to the ED.

The ED had approached the police within days of the Sabarimala gold theft coming to light, but the situation was not favorable. Following this, the ED approached the high court. The government had opposed this in the high court. The government informed the high court that the SIT is conducting the investigation in a good manner and that no FEMA violation has been found. It was in this context the high court directed the ED to approach the trial court.

Based on this, a favorable verdict was obtained after approaching the vigilance court. The ED alleged that there has been international involvement in the gold theft. The ED has clarified that it is necessary to investigate the possibility of black money transactions. The investigation will be conducted after registering a case at the ED's Kochi zonal office.