NEW DELHI: Former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) member KP Sankaradas, the 11th accused in the Sabarimala gold theft case, was arrested on Wednesday (Jan 14) at a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, marking a major development in the high-profile case.
Sankaradas is currently admitted to the hospital in a serious condition. The arrest is largely procedural, as he cannot be taken out of the hospital at present. He had been undergoing treatment in the intensive care unit (ICU) for several days and was shifted to a regular room shortly before his arrest.
The arrest follows sharp criticism from the Kerala High Court over the Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) delay in arresting Sankaradas, despite the case having been registered against him earlier.
A single bench of Justice Badruddin made strong observations against the SIT while considering the bail pleas of three accused in the case. The court noted that one of the accused had been in hospital since the day he was named in the case.
Referring to Sankaradas, Justice Badruddin remarked that his son is a Superintendent of Police (SP) and that this was the reason he had been admitted to the hospital.
Sankaradas was a member of the Travancore Devaswom Board when A Padmakumar was its president. - The Statesman/ANN
