New Delhi [India], January 15 (ANI): Kerala BJP President Rajeev Chandrasekhar slammed Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan on Thursday over the Sabarimala gold theft case, accusing him of trying to cover up the scandal. Chandrasekhar claimed that Vijayan’s initial response to the scam was to downplay it as a “slip-up” and hoped that the Special Investigation Team (SIT), which reports to him, would help bury the issue.
Speaking during a press conference, Chandrasekhar questioned the impartiality of the SIT, saying, “When the Sabarimala scam first came out, our Chief Minister’s first response to it, he said it is a slip-up… He was hoping that the SIT, which is the Kerala police, which reports to him, would help him put this under the carpet. This is the single-handedly effort of media and the BJP-NDA to prevent him from putting this under carpet. The Home Minister himself, when he came to Trivandrum, challenged the Chief Minister, if you are sincerely interested in finding out the truth about your own ministers, how can your police investigate it?…”
Earlier, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case had arrested KP Shankaradas, a former member of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), Kerala Police said on Wednesday.
The arrest was formally recorded at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where Shankaradas has been undergoing medical treatment for the past few days. Police sources said the Kollam Vigilance Court has been informed of the arrest.
Shankaradas had served on the administrative committee of the Travancore Devaswom Board during the tenure of A Padmakumar, the former TDB president who was earlier arrested in the case. Investigators believe decisions taken during this period are central to the alleged irregularities linked to the disappearance of gold meant for the Sabarimala temple.
The Sabarimala gold theft case relates to allegations of misappropriation of around 4.54 kilograms of gold from sacred temple artefacts, including the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames and Dwarapalaka idols. The alleged theft took place in 2019 under the pretext of refinishing and re-gold-plating temple structures.
The controversy traces its origins to a 1998 donation by industrialist Vijay Mallya, who had gifted 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper for gold plating and cladding work at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. Subsequent inspections and court-monitored inquiries revealed discrepancies between the donated gold and the quantity allegedly used.
The case has also sparked political controversy, with Union Home Minister Amit Shah demanding that the probe be handed over to a neutral agency, alleging the involvement of senior Kerala ministers and questioning the state government’s handling of the investigation. (ANI)