6 months ago
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The High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) connected Tuesday (December 30, 2025) questioned a Dindigal-based businessperson, who allegedly goes by respective aliases, including D. Mani, successful transportation with the transgression misappropriation of gold-plated artefacts from the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple.
Officials said the SIT had interviewed Mr. Mani successful his bureau past week, based connected a connection from a Non-Resident Keralite businessperson that sought to nexus the Tamil Nadu nonmigratory to the amerciable commercialized successful spiritual artefacts, including those of expected antique value.
Officials said Mr. Mani and an acquaintance, who identified himself arsenic Balamurugan, reported to the Crime Branch bureau successful Eanchakkal, Thiruvananthapuram, for questioning.
The SIT is yet to sanction Mr. Mani arsenic an accused successful the case. Mr. Mani has protested his innocence to journalists from Kerala who visited him successful Dindigul past week.
However, officials said the expat businessperson’s deposition, fixed astatine the behest of erstwhile Kerala Home Minister and elder Congress person Ramesh Chennithala, has opened a caller enactment of enquiry, requiring much clip and perchance further investigators.
They said the Crime Branch volition apt attack the Kerala High Court to question support to grow the SIT and widen the deadline for filing the last study successful the case.
Mr. Mani had emerged arsenic the latest absorption of the probe aft the expat alleged that the erstwhile had contacted affluent collectors claiming to person idols and different high-value spiritual artefacts for sale.
Officials said the SIT was verifying Mr. Mani’s antecedents, including immoderate links to Unnikrishnan Potti, the premier accused successful the case. Moreover, the SIT has reportedly interviewed respective acquaintances of Mr. Mani successful Tamil Nadu, perchance to illustration him based connected their quality statements.
Rice puller racket
Officials said the SIT suspects its probe mightiness meander into interstate rackets that thenar disconnected mean mundane objects, including metallic pots and idols, arsenic uncommon treasures with magical properties to unsophisticated, overeager, affluent collectors for important sums of money.
They noted that the Tamil Nadu and the Kerala Police had registered respective cases involving the usage of pseudoscience to mislead buyers into believing that the vessels they hoped to merchantability were made of uncommon alloys with supernatural properties.
An authoritative said the “rice-puller” scam, which targeted impressionable affluent collectors successful Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu, progressive the clever usage of hidden magnets and atom grains mixed with infinitesimal robust shavings to signifier fake “magical” demonstrations to transportation prospective buyers.
An researcher said the SIT was reluctant to prosecute specified lines of probe without hard grounds linking specified rackets to the Sabarimala golden theft.
