Sabarimala gold theft case: SIT probe extended to TN, Karnataka
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Still clueless over the fate of the gold that was stolen from Sabarimala artefacts, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the gold theft cases have fanned out its probe to Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. The sleuths visited various locations in Chennai in a bid to collect more evidence against Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari. Another team of officers conducted another round of search at Roddam Jewellers in Ballari in Karnataka. Roddam Jewellers is owned by Govardhan, who is in judicial custody along with Pankaj after the SIT arrested them for allegedly being part of the subterfuge. The sleuths had earlier recovered about 470g of gold from Roddam, but sources said investigators could not verify whether it was part of the missing gold from Sabarimala artefacts. The Chennai-based probe of the SIT has got another dimension as well. A businessman based abroad had allegedly testified before the SIT about the suspected involvement of international rackets engaged in antique trafficking.
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