- Photo: IANS file
NEW DELHI: Senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala on Monday (Dec 15) alleged that the Sabarimala temple gold heist could be part of a larger conspiracy aimed at selling priceless temple antiques in Kerala and amassing huge wealth from them.
Speaking to media persons here, Chennithala said the LDF government was trying to protect influential individuals, including former ministers, in connection with the gold theft at the Sabarimala temple. He described the incident as one that has deeply hurt the sentiments of crores of devotees.
He claimed that the role of former Devaswom ministers in the gold heist had become clear.
“Even a child knows that if the two former Devaswom Board presidents were involved in this theft, they must have had the knowledge and consent of the department ministers,” Chennithala said, a day after recording his statement before the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the case.
Questioning the progress of the investigation, Chennithala said that in criminal cases, once the accused are arrested, the next step is to recover the stolen property.
“Why has the stolen gold not been recovered yet? Where did it go and what happened to it?” he asked. He added that the search for answers points to possible links with the international antique black market, where antiques and sacred objects are illegally traded.
Stating that there was a “mysterious and massive fraud” behind the Sabarimala gold heist, Chennithala said that once efforts to recover the stolen gold begin in earnest, the real forces behind the crime would be exposed.
“It is very clear that an international antiques mafia is working behind this. Efforts should be made to trace them,” he said.
Chennithala further said that all information available to him in this regard had been mentioned in the statement he submitted to the SIT.
On Dec 7, Chennithala had raised serious allegations in the Sabarimala gold heist case and sought a probe into possible links with international antique smuggling rackets.
In a statement, he claimed to have received credible inputs that the missing gold plates from the hill shrine were traded in the international black market for around Rs 500 crore.
He also wrote to the SIT investigating the case, requesting it to probe this angle, and assured the agency that he would share more information regarding the alleged international mafia involved in the crime.
Meanwhile, the SIT probing the Sabarimala gold heist recorded Chennithala’s statement on Sunday in connection with his allegations of international links to the crime.
His statement was recorded at the Crime Branch office in Thiruvananthapuram, where he reiterated claims of an international antique smuggling racket being involved. - The Statesman/ANN
