A court has extended the judicial custody of A. Padmakumar, former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, by another two weeks in connection with the alleged theft of gold plating from the Dwarapalaka sculptures at the Sabarimala temple.
The remand period in the separate case involving the theft of gold from the sanctum sanctorum’s door panel is set to expire on Thursday. Padmakumar’s bail plea in the Dwarapalaka case is scheduled to be heard on December 22, with the court directing the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to submit a detailed report.
Meanwhile, Unnikrishnan Potty and Murari Babu, who were recently released from SIT custody, were produced before the court and sent back to judicial custody. Murari was remanded in the Dwarapalaka gold plating theft case, while Potty was remanded in the sanctum door panel gold theft case. The SIT sought their further custody citing new evidence. Public Prosecutor Siju Rajan represented the prosecution.
The court will also consider the Enforcement Directorate’s (ED) plea seeking certified copies of records related to the case on Tuesday. The SIT opposed the request, arguing that a parallel probe by the ED was unwarranted while its investigation is underway. The ED, however, stated that it had sought copies of FIRs, remand reports, accused statements, and seized materials to aid further proceedings, adding that it has the authority to initiate an independent case.
As part of its probe, the SIT has recorded the statement of a businessman after Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala informed investigators that the individual had spoken about the involvement of international antique-smuggling networks. Sources said the non-resident Keralite told the SIT about transnational rackets engaged in trafficking stolen temple artefacts and their suspected link to the Sabarimala gold theft.
