Thiruvananthapuram (Kerala) [India], January 10 : Thantri Kandharar Rajeevar, the chief priest (Tantri) of Sabarimala, arrested a day earlier in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case, was shifted to the hospital on Saturday following health complications. He was lodged at the Thiruvananthapuram Special Sub Jail.
Jail authorities shifted him to the Thiruvananthapuram General Hospital in a prison ambulance for medical treatment.
The Sabarimala gold controversy centres on allegations of irregularities in the gold plating at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a 1998 donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala.
A day earlier, the Crime Branch had arrested Thantri Kandharar Rajeevar and the 13th accused in connection with the gold theft case.
Investigators state that Rajeevar, a member of the Thazhamon Madam, Chengannur, and a hereditary Thantri under the Travancore Devaswom Board, was fully aware of the presence of gold plating done earlier by the Bengaluru-based UB Group.
Despite holding the Thantri post during the relevant period, he allegedly failed to object or report the removal of the temple assets, which were handed over to a private individual without following prescribed rituals, customs, or obtaining divine consent.
The Crime Branch further alleges that Rajeevar remained present at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam during key rituals on May 18 and 19, 2019, when the panels were removed, and later when they were reinstalled in June 2019, but did not take steps to prevent or report the violations.
This, according to investigators, amounted to criminal silence and tacit consent, facilitating unlawful gain to the accused persons and causing loss to the Travancore Devaswom Board.
The arrest was effected after the probe revealed his alleged role in the conspiracy and violation of provisions under the Travancore Devaswom Manual, which mandates that repair works of valuable temple assets be carried out within temple premises and not taken outside.