SIT arrests two more in Sabarimala gold theft case

Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], December 19 : The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has arrested Smart Creation CEO Pankaj Bhandari and Karnataka's Bellary-based jewellery owner Govardhan in the Sabarimala gold theft case, Kerala DGP Ravada Chandrasekhar said on Friday.
The controversy has already had political reverberations in Kerala. Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan earlier made it clear that the CPI(M) would not shield anyone found guilty. "Whoever is guilty, the party will not protect them," the Chief Minister had said, as the probe began to touch individuals with political affiliations.
The Sabarimala gold controversy centres on allegations of irregularities in the gold plating at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala.
On November 26, the SIT took into custody A. Padmakumar, former Sabarimala Executive Committee President and a CPI(M) Pathanamthitta district committee member, in connection with the sanctum gold heist case. Padmakumar, who also served as a former Konni MLA, was taken into custody after the Kollam Vigilance Court approved the SIT's request. He had earlier been remanded to 14 days of judicial custody.
Earlier, on November 7, the SIT arrested former Thiruvabharanam temple Commissioner K.S. Baiju, while the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, was taken into custody on October 17. The SIT has submitted multiple reports to the Kerala High Court, pointing to serious irregularities in the Travancore Devaswom Board's records.