Left-front leaders likely to face probe in Sabarimala gold missing

Thiruvananthapuram: Former members of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB), including a CPM leader and some other left-front leaders, are likely to be in the dock in the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple gold missing row.

The inquiry report of TDB vigilance wing cites lapses on the part of the former board president and CPM leader A Padmakumar in handing over the gold covered platings of the temple to Bengaluru-based Malayali Unnikrishnan Potti in 2019 for gold plating by taking to Chennai by flouting norms that such works should be carried out at the temple premises.

The High Court appointed police special investigation team had registered two cases and investigating the disappearance of gold on the basis of the TDB vigilance report. Hence the former board members could also come under the probe.

Padmakumar told reporters that he did not indulge in any unlawful acts and was ready to face any investigation. He also alleged that some vested interest groups were trying to target him even as many others were there on the board.

Meanwhile, the political row over the Sabarimala gold missing is also intensifying. As the opposition Congress as well as BJP and Sangh Parivar outfits are intensifying the stir, state cultural affairs minister Saji Cheriyan said that it was during the time of Congress government in Kerala that massive looting from Sabarimala temple happened. The Congress camps were countering by demanding an audit of the assents of all temples in the state, especially since allegations of missing of valuables have surfaced at many temples after the Sabarimala gold missing row thickened.