Pathanamthitta (Kerala), Oct 28: A Kerala court on Tuesday granted the custody of B Murari Babu, an accused in the case of gold loss from Sabarimala, to the SIT — which is probing the matter — for four days.
A magisterial court granted his custody to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on its plea seeking the same.
Babu, a former Devaswom administrative officer, is the second accused in the case related to the loss of gold from the ‘Dwarapalaka’ (guardian deity) idols and the sixth accused in the matter of gold loss from the sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frame.
The main accused in both cases, Bengaluru-based businessman Unnikrishnan Potty, is currently in SIT custody which will end on October 30.
The SIT had recently taken him to Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for evidence collection and returned to Kerala on October 26 evening.
Last week, the SIT searched the jewellery shop owned by Govardhan, who reportedly funded the gold-plating work of the temple’s sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frame, officially sponsored by Potty.
Subsequently, searches were conducted at Potty’s residence in Srirampura, Bengaluru, and at the Smart Creation office in Chennai, where the electroplating of the gold-clad copper plates of the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols was carried out in 2019.
The SIT reportedly seized several quantities of gold from the first two locations.
Babu was arrested by the SIT last week.
The SIT probe was ordered by the Kerala High Court after it found loss of gold from the gold-plated copper claddings of the Dwarapalaka idols when they were last sent for renovation to Chennai in 2019.
The revelation came during the proceedings initiated by the High Court on its own in connection with the removal of the idols this year again for renovation without informing it. (PTI)
