Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], November 12 : Congress leader KC Venugopal on Wednesday slammed the Communist Party of India (Marxist)-led Kerala government over the ongoing Sabarimala gold theft case. He accused the party of trying to "steal money from temples" and trying to "take them over."
"The Devaswom Minister sits as if he knows nothing. They sold Ayyappa's property and hurt the sentiments of the believers. In the CPI(M), what is happening is the process of taking over temples. CPI(M)'s eyes are on the wealth of temples," Venugopal said here, while addressing the party's march on demanding the arrests in the Sabarimala gold case.
He further criticised the dismissal of Prayar Gopalkrishnan from the Travancore Devaswom Board, saying that the CPM removed the 'devout' person to install a party man instead.
Prayar Gopalkrishnan was the Travancore Devaswom Board president from 2015 till 2017. He was an MLA and a member of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC).
"After dismissing the devout Prayar Gopalakrishnan, for what reason did they appoint a party leader as Devaswom Board president? The chief minister must answer. The government is turning these boards into platforms to create commissions. Even though the Sabarimala gold theft occurred, the Chief Minister sits in the Secretariat with pride," he said.
Earlier on Tuesday, Kerala police arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board President N Vasu in connection with the case, Kerala Director General of Police Ravada Chandrasekhar said. The state's top cop confirmed the development as Vasu was questioned earlier by the Special Investigation Team. Vasu is listed as the third accused in the case.
On November 7, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Crime Branch arrested former Thiruvabharanam temple Commissioner KS Baiju in connection with a gold theft case.
Notably, Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused, was reportedly taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on October 17. The SIT, which is investigating the matter, submitted its second report to the Kerala High Court on Wednesday, revealing serious irregularities in the minutes of the Travancore Devaswom Board.
The Sabarimala gold controversy involves allegations of irregularities regarding the gold plating work at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose after a donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Keralaw, later on after the gold plating was taken down for alleged cleaning, there were irregularities found in the weight of gold.
Earlier today, Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala demanded the immediate arrest of those involved in the Sabarimala gold theft case, alleging that the "true faces" of all the accused are now being exposed and claiming that "many ministers will go to jail" as the investigation progresses.