SIT questions Pottis friend who took Sabarimala gold sheets to Bengaluru

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case on Monday summoned Ananthasubrahmaniam, who had received the gold sheets used on the dwarapalaka idols and the door frames on behalf of Unnikrishnan Potti and took them to Bengaluru. Though Potti was supposed to receive the sheets from Sabarimala and take it to Smart Creations, a Chennai-based firm engaged in gold-plating, he deputed his friend Ananthasubrahmaniam to perform the task. As per the mahasar prepared by the then Sabarimala executive officer D Sudheesh Kumar on July 19, 2019, the artefacts weighing 42.8 kg was received by Ananthasubrahmaniam and taken to his residence in Bengaluru. Sources said he told the SIT that the artefacts were kept at his residence for a few days before being sent to Hyderabad for maintenance work at a firm owned by a smith named Nagesh, an accomplice of Potti. There was an undue delay in transferring the artefacts from Hyderabad to Chennai and the SIT reportedly collected Ananthasubrahmaniams statements in that regard. Ananthasubrahmaniam has not been arraigned as an accused in the two cases registered by the SIT, with the probe team yet to take a call on whether he should be arrested, sources said. Meanwhile, the SIT is likely to take Potti, the prime accused in the case, to Chennai, Hyderabad and Bengaluru this week as part of evidence collection. Currently in SIT custody, Potti had revealed that the gold sheets from the dwarapalaka idols and the door frames were taken to these cities under the garb of maintenance and electroplating. The gold was removed from the sheets at a Chennai-based firm, and to cover it up, they were plated with 394 gram of gold. The SIT, in its remand report, had stated that Potti swindled gold weighing around 2 kg from the artefacts after taking them to Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu. Sources said the SIT will also record the statements of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) presidents A Padmakumar and N Vasu and staff, including suspended Devaswom official Murari Babu, this week. The investigators have already collected details regarding the alleged involvement of Babu and other staff in the case. They are likely to be arrested this week, said a source.