7 months ago
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The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has said it volition determination the High Court to broaden the scope of the ongoing peculiar probe squad (SIT) enquiry into the alleged misappropriation of gold-inlaid copper moulds covering the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple’s chromatic carvings and sculptures successful 2019.
After chairing a top-level gathering present connected Tuesday, TDB president P.S. Prasanth said the committee wanted the SIT to analyse temple transactions from 1998, the twelvemonth industrialist Vijay Mallya had donated the gold-plated coverings to the temple.
Mr. Prasanth besides announced the suspension of Sunil Kumar, a TDB employee, whom the SIT had named arsenic an accused successful the FIR (filed successful a magistrate’s tribunal successful Ranni). Earlier, the TDB had suspended a temple administrator, Murari Babu.
Mr. Prasanth said the SIT had named 7 retired TDB officials arsenic suspects. “The TDB has acceptable a deadline of 10 days for them to taxable an mentation to the committee nether the provisions of the Kerala Service Rules. The committee is empowered to retreat oregon suspend their pensions and different benefits if the tribunal convicts them. It tin besides instrumentality impermanent penal action,” helium said.
Mr. Prasanth slammed Leader of the Opposition V.D. Satheesan for allegedly politicising the controversy. He requested the Opposition to clasp its occurrence till the SIT submited a study to the High Court successful “six weeks.”
He said if the Opposition mistrusted the High Court-monitored SIT inquiry, it should authorities truthful to the court, alternatively of “laying down a smokescreen of lies” erstwhile the TDB prepared to big President Droupadi Murmu and lakhs of Ayyappa devotees during the Mandala-Makaravilakku pilgrimage season.
Meanwhile, the SIT’s rapidly expanding probe reportedly reached Hyderabad, amid reports that the temple artefacts were kept successful the location of a affluent collector for backstage worship en way to a mill successful Chennai for restoration successful 2019.
The TDB’s Vigilance helping had reported to the High Court that the artefacts had remained successful the custody of the premier suspect, Unnikrishnan Potti, for 39 days earlier they were “restored and returned to the temple”, raising the anticipation of replication of the mould and merchantability of the archetypal castings to affluent collectors for backstage worship.
