Chief priest arrested in Sabarimala gold loss probe

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold loss case arrested chief priest of the Lord Ayyappa temple, Kandararu Rajeevaru in Thiruvananthapuram on Friday, sources said.

IMAGE: Kandararu Rajeevaru was brought in for questioning by the SIT, in Thiruvananthapuram. Photograph: ANI on X

Rajeevaru was questioned at an undisclosed location in the morning and later shifted to the SIT office in the afternoon, where his arrest was formally recorded, sources said.

According to officials, the arrest was made based on statements given by prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty and former Travancore Devaswom Board president Padmakumar.

The SIT found that Rajeevaru had close associations with Potty and had recommended the replating of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) plates and the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) doorframe plates at the temple.

Later, when the Travancore Devaswom Board sought his permission for the replating, Rajeevaru had granted his approval, officials said.

SIT officials said Rajeevaru had been questioned earlier as part of the investigation.

He is the 11th person to be arrested in the case after the Kerala high court constituted the SIT to probe the gold loss incident.

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ED files money laundering case

The Enforcement Directorate, meanwhile, filed a money laundering case in the Sabarimala gold loss case in Kerala, official sources said.

The federal probe agency has registered an Enforcement Case Information Report (ECIR), an ED equivalent of a police FIR, under various sections of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they said.

The politically sensitive case is already being investigated by a state special investigation team (SIT) under the supervision of the Kerala high court.

The SIT is probing two cases related to the gold loss incident and has arrested 11 people so far.

The probe is related to a series of irregularities, including official misconduct, administrative lapses and a criminal conspiracy to misappropriate the gold from the various artefacts of the Lord Ayyappa shrine.

The investigation by the SIT, and now by the ED, is related to the loss of gold from the gold-cladded copper plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple.