Thiruvananthapuram | The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the gold lost from the Sabarimala temple has claimed that arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar replaced "gold-plated copper plates" with "copper plates" in the records.
This was stated in the remand report filed before the Kollam Vigilance Court, where Padmakumar was produced after his arrest on Thursday.
According to the report, Padmakumar, in conspiracy with other accused, violated norms in the Devaswom Manual Vol II, Chapter IX, which prohibits the moving valuables out from the Sabarimala temple.
The report allged Padmakumar allegedly facilitated the removal of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames, which were gold-cladded, and had them handed over for gold plating after the board meeting chaired by him on March 19, 2019.
"In spite of knowing that there was gold on the door frames, Padmakumar struck off the term brass and, in his handwriting, replaced 'gold-plated copper plates' with 'copper plates' in the note, which formed part of Agenda No. 30, ROC No. 9097/18/M file," the remand report stated.
This manipulation led the TDB secretary to issue a board proceeding on March 20, 2019, which enabled prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty to receive the gold plates.
These were later taken to Chennai, where gold was allegedly diverted from them, the report added.
The report further alleged that Padmakumar failed to verify the works carried out in Chennai and did not check the returned plates when they were brought back to Sabarimala.
Padmakumar, a former CPI(M) MLA who served as TDB president in 2019, was arrested by the SIT on Thursday.
He is the eighth accused in the second case related to the missing gold from the Sreekovil door frames.
The SIT is probing two cases—one involving gold lost from the gold-cladded plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the other concerning the Sreekovil door frames.
Meanwhile, the SIT carried out a search at Padmakumar's residence in Aranmula.
The search began in the morning and continued till evening.
The SIT will approach the court seeking his custody next week, an officer said.
So far, the SIT has arrested six persons, including prime accused Potty, in the two cases.