Thiruvananthapuram, Oct 17 (IANS) A court in Pathanamthitta district in Kerala on Friday granted permission to the SIT team, which arrested Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in the theft of gold at Sabarimala temple, to keep him in custody till October 30.

The arrest report shows that Potti has gained two kilograms of gold from the Sabarimala temple, and a serious breach of rituals associated with the temple has also taken place.

Potti was arrested early on Thursday morning after more than 10 hours of questioning at the Crime Branch office in the state capital city and was taken to the court.

As he was taken out of the court after he was handed over to the police, he told the media, “Those who trapped me will also be brought before the law”.

Meanwhile, the Congress party’s state president, Sunny Joseph, who has been demanding the resignation of the State Devasom Minister V.N. Vasavan and the resignation of the Travancore Devasom Board members, alleged that the police were trying to protect the accused and hence delayed the arrest of Potti.

Potti’s arrest marks the first breakthrough in the theft of gold from the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) sculptures and the kattilappadi (threshold) of the Sreekovil at Sabarimala.

The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has recorded two separate cases against Potti, who allegedly smuggled gold out of the temple under the guise of a sponsor.

In the two FIRs, the SIT has arraigned 10 people, with Potti named in both the FIRs and is the prime accused.

The theft is estimated to involve 475 grams of gold, around 56 sovereigns.

Investigators found that while only three grams of gold were actually used for plating, Potti misappropriated the rest.

Now with Potti in SIT’s custody till October 30, it remains to be seen if the real truth in the scam, which has hurt thousands of Ayyappa devotees, will come out, and all the wrongdoers in this case be brought before the law. Fears have already been raised about whether these wrongdoers include the TDB officials or political leaders.

Sunny Joseph demanded that the people who sheltered and benefited from Potti must also be identified.

“The delay in arresting Potti was to destroy evidence and shift the stolen gold to other locations. The arrest happened only because of the intervention of the High Court. The conspiracy is evident right from the FIR. One person alone could not have orchestrated it. The Travancore Devaswom Board also bears responsibility for the theft. They too should be named as accused and arrested. Evidence must be collected from them, and the stolen gold recovered. This is crucial for the trial of the case,” Joseph said.

“Though the Congress has repeatedly demanded the recovery of the stolen gold, no action has been taken so far,” he added.

Leader of Opposition V.D. Satheesan said Potti alone is not the culprit, as the Board and even political leaders are also there.

“If a proper probe takes place, the TDB members and the then State Devasom Minister Kadakampally Surendran will also be in trouble. I have ample evidence about the close relations between Surendran and Potti. The present TDB also has to be taken to task because they are in the know of everything, and they tried to do another round of gold plating this year. It’s only the idol of Lord Ayyappa that remains untouched,” said Satheesan.

–IANS

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