ED summons Tantri and Vasu in Sabarimala gold theft case

ED summons former TDB president N. Vasu and Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru for interrogation in Sabarimala gold theft investigation.

The Directorate of Enforcement (ED) has issued a summons to the former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) N. Vasu and Tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru to appear for interrogation in the first week of March in connection with its ongoing probe into the alleged Sabarimala gold theft case.

After being arrested by the High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case, both were granted bail by the Kollam vigilance court earlier this month. ED has been issuing notices to people in the list of accused drawn up by the SIT and beyond.

Actor Jayaram had deposed before the ED last week after he was summoned in connection with his suspected association and financial transactions with Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused in the case. The agency had also summoned former Travancore Devaswom Board secretary S. Jayasree and Kalpesh, an alleged intermediary in the gold plating of the sacred artefacts of Sabarimala Temple.

The vigilance court cited the SIT’s failure to file a chargesheet within the stipulated time frame as the primary reason for granting bail to Mr. Vasu, as he had completed 90 days in judicial custody. The Tantri was issued bail was in connection with the cases involving the misappropriation of gold from the temple’s Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) sculptures and the Kattilappali (door frame). During the court proceedings, the prosecution had argued that Mr. Rajeevaru maintained close ties with Mr. Potti and submitted details of the Tantri’s financial transactions, revealing substantial deposits in a private financial institution. Emerging from custody, he had accused the government of orchestrating his arrest out of political revenge.

The Kochi unit of ED had last month registered an ECIR (Enforcement Case Information Report) in the alleged Sabarimala gold theft case under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) after receiving permission from the Central Government. The ED had begun preliminary inquiries into the alleged theft in October last year after potential money laundering aspects surfaced. The agency subsequently moved a petition before the Kollam Vigilance Court seeking custody of case-related documents. The petition argued that alleged acts of forgery, misappropriation of temple gold, and suspected laundering linked to Sabarimala constituted offences under Section 467 of the Indian Penal Code, a scheduled offence under PMLA.