Sabarimala gold loss case: ED raids in Kerala, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu
Kochi/New Delhi (PTI): The Enforcement Directorate on Tuesday launched searches in three states as part of its money laundering investigation into the Sabarimala gold loss case, official sources said.
About 21 locations across Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu are being raided under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA), they added.
The premises linked to the main accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, in Bengaluru and former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar are understood to be covered by the federal probe agency as part of the action.
The ED had recently filed a PMLA case taking cognisance of a Kerala police FIR.
The politically sensitive case is already being investigated by a state Special Investigation Team (SIT) under the supervision of the Kerala High Court.
The probe is related to a series of irregularities, including official misconduct, administrative lapses and a criminal conspiracy to misappropriate the gold from the various artefacts of the Lord Ayyappa shrine.
The investigation by the SIT is related to the loss of gold from the gold-cladded copper plates of the 'Dwarapalaka' (guardian deity) idols and the door frames of the 'Sreekovil' (sanctum sanctorum) of the temple.
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US VP JD Vance says Lebanon not part of ceasefire, calls it ‘misunderstanding’
Budapest/Washington: US Vice President J D Vance has said that Lebanon was never included in the ceasefire understanding with Iran, describing the confusion as a “legitimate misunderstanding”.
Speaking to reporters before departing from Hungary, Vance said, “I think the Iranians thought that the ceasefire included Lebanon and it just didn’t. We never made that promise.”
He stressed that the United States had not included Lebanon in the scope of the ceasefire at any stage.
His remarks come amid continued Israeli strikes in Lebanon, where more than 200 people were reported killed, even as ceasefire talks between Iran and the US move forward.
Vance said Israel had “offered … to check themselves a little bit in Lebanon because they want to make sure that our negotiation is successful”.
He warned that if Iran allows the situation in Lebanon to affect the negotiations, it could derail the talks.
“If Iran wants to let this negotiation fall apart in a conflict where they were getting hammered over Lebanon, which has nothing to do with them and which the United States never once said was part of the ceasefire, that’s ultimately their choice,” he said.
