The special investigation team (SIT) probing the alleged theft of gold from the Sabarimala temple in Kerala on Thursday arrested senior CPI(M) leader and former MLA A Padmakumar.

The SIT, appointed by the Kerala High Court, recorded the arrest of Padmakumar after questioning him for several hours. Padmakumar had been the president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) — the government body that runs the temple — in 2019, when the alleged theft of gold from temple items occurred. He is presently a member of the CPI(M)’s Pathanamthitta district secretariat.

The SIT had earlier found that the Dwarapalaka idols and door frames of the temple’s sanctum sanctorum, which had already been gold-plated in 1998-1999, were handed over to one Unnikrishnan Potty for another round of gold plating .

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