Thiruvananthapuram, Jan 20: Amid an ongoing probe into the Sabarimala gold theft case, the Enforcement Directorate (ED) carried out searches at over 20 locations across three states on Tuesday morning.
According to the ED, searches were conducted at about 21 locations in Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu under the provisions of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA). The federal probe agency recently registered a PMLA case after taking cognisance of an FIR filed by the Kerala police.
In Bengaluru, ED officials conducted raids at the Srirampura Ayyappa Temple and the residence of one of its trustees. Teams were seen inspecting premises and examining documents as part of efforts to trace the alleged diversion and misuse of temple gold. Searches were also carried out at premises linked to Unnikrishnan Potti, the main accused in the case.
In Karnataka’s Ballari district, the ED raided Roddham Jewellery, located on Bengaluru Road, which investigators believe is linked to the alleged theft of gold ornaments from the revered shrine.
Earlier, the Kerala Special Investigation Team (SIT) had arrested Govardhan, the owner of the Ballari-based jewellery shop, in connection with the case. The ED also searched Govardhan’s residence in Ballari as well as premises linked to Smart Creations.
Additional raids were conducted at the residence of Sabarimala temple’s tantri (chief priest). Officials said around 10 ED personnel were involved in some of the coordinated search operations.
The premises linked to former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar are also understood to be among those covered by the ED’s action, PTI reported.
