6 months ago
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The Kerala High Court-appointed peculiar probe squad (SIT) probing a transgression misappropriation of gold-plated artefacts from the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple appeared to beryllium moving person to questioning much erstwhile Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) members who were among those astatine the helm of affairs erstwhile the transgression occurred successful 2019.
Notably, 2 TDB members astatine the time, K.P. Sankar Das and N. Vijaykumar, person moved the Enquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Vigilance, Kollam, for extortion from arrest. Officials said the SIT had not named immoderate 2019 TDB subordinate arsenic an accused successful the case. Nevertheless, the High Court had tasked the SIT with investigating whether those connected the committee astatine the clip had signed disconnected connected the bid to manus implicit the gold-plated copper moulds covering the temple’s chromatic carvings, sculptures and doorway to the premier accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, for “restoration.”
Notably, the SIT has collected specimen signatures and penning samples of TDB officials for forensic investigation and is examining documents for dissent notes, if any, concerning the contentious determination to entrust Mr. Potti with the gilded panels.
It was besides attempting to found the volition to perpetrate a transgression successful the TDB’s “suspicious misrepresentation” of the gilded objects donated successful 1998 by industrialist Vijay Mallya arsenic made of axenic copper, perchance to springiness ineligible screen to the accused.
Police custody
Officials said the SIT would besides question constabulary custody of Pankaj Bhandari, proprietor of Smart Creations, a metallic works mill contracted by Mr. Potti to “restore” the gilded panels, and Govardhan, proprietor of Roddam Jewellers, who allegedly purchased a information of the chemically separated golden from the panels. The officials said the SIT would analyse whether the accused had collaborators successful the TDB and whether they had compromised the temple’s priestly hierarchy.
The officials noted that the SIT was preparing an inventory of events sponsored by businesspersons astatine the Ayyappa temple, including the hiring of temple priests for backstage poojas connected their premises successful Bengaluru and Chennai. The SIT had told the tribunal that it required much clip to investigate, fixed the scope and extent of the case. The SIT needed much clip to cod and found the relation of much TDB officials successful the crime, added the officials. For one, the SIT had to find however the suspects utilized golden extracted by a chemic separation process allegedly astatine Smart Creations. They said the SIT’s plainclothes squad was astatine Mr. Govardhan’s jewellery successful Bellary for further grounds collection.
Moreover, the SIT was examining whether the transgression had a cross-border quality linked to planetary dealers successful stolen antiques.
