Sabarimala gold missing case: SIT arrests former TDB president Padmakumar

The SIT probing the Sabarimala temple gold missing case arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar here on Thursday, police officials said.

The former CPI(M) MLA was questioned at the Crime Branch office after which his arrest was recorded in the afternoon, an official said.

Sources said that Padmakumar was arrested in the case related to gold missing from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames after he was arraigned as an accused.

He was the TDB president in 2019 when the board considered a proposal to hand over the gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the Sreekovil door frames to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, for electroplating.

Although Padmakumar has maintained that he was not the board president when the gold-clad plates were actually handed over to Potty, the SIT holds that the proposal was processed during his tenure. Officials said Padmakumar had been asked to appear for questioning twice this month but had sought more time.

However, he turned up for interrogation when a fresh notice was issued recently, an officer said.

Padmakumar is a senior CPI(M) leader in Pathanamthitta district and has represented Konni constituency in the Kerala Legislative Assembly.

He will be produced before the Vigilance Court in Kollam for remand procedure, police sources said.

Meanwhile, the Vigilance Court in Kollam on Thursday sent N Vasu, who succeeded Padmakumar as TDB president in 2019, to SIT custody till evening.

The SIT had approached the court seeking his custody for a day for further interrogation. The court, after considering the plea, granted his custody till 4 pm.

BJP workers staged a protest near the court when Vasu was produced, raising slogans against him and attempting to block the vehicle in which he was shifted from the court to the Crime Branch office here.

Other than Padmakuamr, the SIT has arrested five persons, including prime accused Potty and Vasu in two cases related to gold lost from Dwarapalaka idols and Sreekovil doorframes.