'Handed over Rs. 1.5 crore to Potty, offered food at Sabarimala as penance'; Govardhan's statement released

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The statement of Govardhan, the jeweller from Bellary who was arrested in the Sabarimala gold robbery case, has been released. Govardhan has given his statement before the Special Investigation Team. Govardhan stated that he had handed over Rs. 1.5 crore to Unnikrishnan Potty, the first accused in the case, and that he later felt guilty and gave Rs. 10 lakh for food distribution in Sabarimala as penance. Evidence of the payment has also been handed over to the investigation team.

Pankaj Bhandari, CEO of Smart Creations in Chennai, who separated the gold from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), and Govardhan were arrested yesterday. The two, who were summoned for questioning at the Crime Branch office in Inchkal, were arrested by 4 pm. The investigation team found that they were involved in hatching a conspiracy to steal the gold and carrying out a planned robbery.

The Kollam Vigilance Court had ordered the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to hand over copies of the investigation documents related to the gold theft in Sabarimala. The case took on a new dimension when Kollam Vigilance Court Judge CS Mohit yesterday granted the ED's request for copies of the FIRs, remand reports, statements of the arrested and others, and seized documents.

It is also noteworthy that the High Court criticized the Special Investigation Team yesterday. Although former Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar was arrested, the investigation did not extend to former board members KP Shankaradas and N Vijayakumar. Justice A Badaruddin accused the Investigation Team of being discriminatory in the inclusion of those in the list of accused. He also said that the credibility of the investigation is questionable.