THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Former Devaswom Board president A. Padmakumar has revealed that Unnikrishnan Potty had a strong influence in Sabarimala even during the tenure of his predecessors. His statement is seen as an attempt to shift blame and place the UDF-era board under suspicion. Padmakumar said that the decision to hand over the panels to Potty for gold-plating was not his alone and that other board members were aware of it. With this, former board members K. P. Shankaradas and A. Vijayakumar have also come under scrutiny. Padmakumar has also given statements against the Tantri of 2019.

The SIT has decided to record Tantri’s statement. Padmakumar is the eighth accused in the gold theft case. He has reportedly revealed the names of several influential individuals who were close to Potty. D

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