Thiruvananthapuram | The SIT probing the missing gold from the Sabarimala temple arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board president N Vasu on Tuesday, sources said here.

Vasu, who had also served twice as Commissioner of the TDB before being appointed its president, was arrested following his interrogation, they said.

The arrest of Vasu, who is reportedly close to the top leadership of the state government, is one of the high-profile arrests in the case.

The Kerala High Court is monitoring the SIT probe.

He is an accused in the case relating to the disappearance of gold from the door frames of the sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the hill shrine, sources said.

The SIT has already arrested the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, along with two senior officials and a retired officer in connection with the case.

Potty is an accused in two cases related to the disappearance of gold from the gold-clad plates of the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the door frames of the sreekovil of the temple.