Sabarimala gold theft: Accused in custody, Opposition demands resignations

Kerala's opposition walked out of the assembly over the Sabarimala gold theft, demanding the resignation of the Devaswom minister. The prime accused is in SIT custody for interrogation after the High Court noted a board member's involvement.

Opposition Walks Out of Assembly, Demands Resignation

The members of the opposition walked out of the assembly in protest over the Sabarimala gold theft case. Leader of Opposition, VD Satheesan, stated that the High Court has made it clear that a board member was involved in the gold theft from the Sabarimala Temple. "The High Court has made it clear that a Devasworm board member definitely had a role in taking the sculpture of Sabrimala Aiyyappa temple to outside ...they knew very well that there was a fraud...the high court made it very clear...that's why we are asking to the expel the Devasworm board...at the same time the Devasworm board minister is also responsible, he has to resign...that is our demand,' he said.

Prime Accused in SIT Custody

Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused, has reportedly been taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on October 17. The SIT team arrived at Potti's residence in Thiruvananthapuram early today and escorted him to a secret location in Pathanamthitta for interrogation. It is yet to be confirmed whether his arrest has been officially recorded. The SIT is expected to question him about the stolen gold, its whereabouts, and the involvement of other suspected individuals. His arrest is likely to follow the interrogation, followed by a medical examination and court appearance in Ranni (Pathanamthitta).

The Kerala Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Saturday conducted a raid at the Bengaluru residence of Potti Unnikrishnan as part of the ongoing probe. The case gained renewed attention after Unnikrishnan Potti, in the run-up to the TDB-sponsored Global Ayyappa Sanghamam in September, claimed that four gold-plated panels he donated in 2019 were missing. The TDB Vigilance recovered the missing panels from Potti's sister's residence in Thiruvananthapuram, leading the Kerala High Court to order a detailed SIT probe into all TDB transactions involving him.

TDB Suspends Engineer

Earlier, the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president, P.S. Prasanth, suspended Assistant Engineer K Sunil Kumar for his alleged involvement in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Kumar has been named as an accused in the case.

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