Thiruvananthapuram | Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday alleged that the missing gold from Sabarimala could be part of a larger conspiracy to sell priceless antiquities from temples across Kerala.
A day after recording his statement with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, Chennithala claimed there was a "mysterious huge fraud" behind the incident.
Criticising the state government, he accused it of shielding those responsible and called for action against former ministers allegedly involved in the case.
"The missing gold incident appears to be part of a large-scale conspiracy to amass huge wealth by selling antique articles from temples across the state," Chennithala said.
He further alleged that the plan had been attempted during the tenure of senior CPI(M) leader Kadakampally Surendran as Devaswom Minister.
He added that he had raised the matter in the assembly in his capacity as opposition leader at the time.
Chennithala's statements come days after he approached the SIT to share information regarding the alleged involvement of an international racket in the Sabarimala gold loss incident.
Following his request, the SIT recorded his statement at the crime branch office on Sunday.
He said the information he received about the case had been shared with him by a businessman.
The SIT is currently probing two cases related to the theft of gold plates from the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the gold-plated doorframes of the sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).
So far, six people have been arrested, including two former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board.
