Former Sabarimala executive officer who helped main accused, arrested in gold theft case
Pathanamthitta (Kerala) (PTI): The SIT probing the alleged disappearance of gold from the Sabarimala temple has arrested former executive officer Sudheesh Kumar, officials said on Saturday.
Kumar, who served as the executive officer of the hill shrine in 2019, was arrested after being questioned at the Crime Branch office in Thiruvananthapuram, sources said.
He has been accused of concealing that the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols were gold-plated, instead recording them as copper sheets in the temple’s official documents.
Sources said Kumar had been associated with Sabarimala since the 1990s and was aware that the sanctum sanctorum, including the Dwarapalaka idols, had been gold-clad during 1998–99.
However, when the Dwarapalaka plates were handed over to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, for gold plating in 2019, Kumar allegedly documented them as copper plates, enabling the accused to later remove the existing gold plating, an officer said.
Similarly, Kumar recommended to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) that the Dwarapalaka plates be handed over to Potty for electroplating.
The removal of the plates was carried out without the presence of the TDB Thiruvabharanam (sacred ornament) commissioner, sources said.
He is the third person to be arrested in the case, following Potty and former administrative officer B Murari Babu.
Kumar was produced before the Judicial First Class Magistrate Court here and was remanded to judicial custody.
The court has ordered that he be produced again on Monday.
Meanwhile, the SIT also interrogated Vasudevan, a close aide of Potty.
Investigators said Vasudevan had kept the additional gold-clad pedestal of the Dwarapalaka idols in his custody, which was later seized from the house of Potty’s relative in Thiruvananthapuram last month.
The SIT is investigating two related cases concerning the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and from the door frames of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum), which were handed over to Potty for electroplating in 2019.
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TN CM Vijay calls fuel price hike ‘unacceptable’, seeks rollback
Chennai (PTI): Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay on Friday slammed the increase of Rs 3 per litre in petrol and diesel prices, calling it "unacceptable", and demanded its immediate rollback, claiming the revision would affect various sections of society.
He said oil marketing companies do not reduce prices in line with global crude price trends and "take the profits".
"Union government oil marketing companies have increased the price of petrol and diesel by Rs 3 per litre. This is not acceptable," Vijay said in a statement.
The hike has been effected after the "five-state polls" (four states and one union territory), he added.
This price rise will largely affect the income of the poor and middle class using two-wheelers and small vehicles, as well as others dependent on vehicles for their livelihood, the CM said.
It will ultimately result in an increase in the prices of daily commodities and also "affect the purchasing power of the poor," he added.
Citing the chain effect of the price revision, such as increased input costs for small units, he said it could lead to a "slowdown" in the market and exports.
"Therefore, I urge the union government to immediately roll back the price hike that will affect the poor and middle-class people and SMEs," Vijay added.
Global crude oil prices have surged more than 50 per cent since US-Israeli strikes on Iran on February 28 and Tehran’s subsequent retaliation, which disrupted energy flows through the Strait of Hormuz, a key artery for global oil shipments.
Petrol and diesel prices are now at their highest level since May 2022.
