"Criteria for entrusting former Devaswom president's son with adding gold to Yoga Danda and Rudraksha should be clarified"

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Union Minister V Muraleedharan has demanded clarification on the criteria for entrusting the son of former Devaswom president A Padmakumar to adding gold to the Yoga Danda and Rudraksha of the Sabarimala shrine. He said that Sabarimala is not anyone's family property and the Devaswom's assets cannot be used according to personal interests.

Muraleedharan asked who the ''godlike'' person involved in the theft that Padmakumar is referring to. "It should be clarified whether this is Kadakampally Surendran. The situation where the High Court has ordered a criminal case to be opened and investigated is serious. Only a central agency's investigation will reveal the entire case," V Muraleedharan reiterated.

Meanwhile, the High Court clarified that about 475 grams of gold has gone missing from the gold plates in Sabarimala. The court also ordered a case to be registered and investigated. The High Court demanded an impartial investigation into the vigilance findings. The state police chief was also made a party in the case. The court took action after considering the final report submitted by the Devaswom Vigilance, which investigated the gold plates controversy.