Fake ornaments on temple deity; ADGP Ajith Kumar's family temple priest in custody

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: A priest belonging to a temple maintained by the family of ADGP M R Ajith Kumar was arrested in connection with the theft of three sovereigns of gold. Temple priest Arun was arrested by Fort police, in connection with the theft of gold from Sree Mutharamman Temple in Manacaud. A necklace, a pair of earrings, and a crescent moon-shaped piece of jewellery used for the deity were stolen from the temple.

From July to September, many of the ornaments used in the deity were found missing. The missing jewellery was shrewdly replaced with fake ornaments that caught temple officials' eyes. In the following investigation, temple priest Arun was questioned and the dark secrets of theft came to light. The fake necklace replaced broke its hook and fell on the floor which alerted the temple committee and forced a police investigation.

Earlier, there was a controversy surrounding Arun, when he was taken into custody in the case of theft of an idol from a temple in Poonthura. Arun was later released after questioning. The priest was taken into custody for questioning in the Panchaloha idol theft case at Poonthura Devi temple. Controversy erupted when police took Arun into custody while he was performing rituals at the Muthumari Ammankovil in Kuriyathy, Thiruvananthapuram.

Amidst this controversy, comes another theft case knocking on the doors of Arun.