Thiruvananthapuram | Former TDB member N Vijayakumar was arrested on Monday in connection with the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple gold loss case, police said.
Police sources said Vijayakumar was a member of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) during the tenure of former president A Padmakumar, who has already been arrested in the case related to the loss of gold from the doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) of the shrine.
During the board's tenure, approval was given to hand over gold plates to the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, for electroplating in 2019.
SIT officials said that Vijayakumar, who is also a CPI(M) member, had recently filed an anticipatory bail petition at the Kollam Vigilance Court.
However, he withdrew the petition and turned up at the SIT office on Monday.
After the interrogation, his arrest was recorded, sources said.
He was produced before the Thiruvananthapuram Vigilance court and remanded to judicial custody till January 12.
In the report filed in the court, SIT alleges that Vijayakumar was also part of the conspiracy, along with Padmakumar, in handing over the gold plates to Potty.
Padmakumar has filed a bail petition, which will be considered on December 31.
With his arrest, Vijayakumar became the 10th accused to be arrested by the SIT as part of the probe into the loss of gold from the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the Sreekovil doorframes at Sabarimala temple.
Earlier, the Kerala High Court, while considering a petition related to the Sabarimala gold loss case, had criticised the SIT for not probing the role of former TDB members K P Shankardas and Vijayakumar.
The SIT was constituted on the directions of the High Court, which earlier this month granted the team an additional six months to complete the investigation.
