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THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The SIT probing the missing gold from Kerala’s Sabarimala Temple Tuesday arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president N Vasu. He is the third accused in the case related to the gold plating of the temple’s doorframe. Vasu was produced before Pathanamthitta judicial first-class magistrate court, which remanded him to judicial custody for 14 days. Vasu was taken to Kottarakkara sub-jail. Investigators said the high-profile arrest pertains to the time when Vasu served as devaswom commissioner in 2019. At this time, the gold plating work was undertaken under the sponsorship of Unnikrishnan Potti, prime accused in the case. Vasu, who served as the TDB commissioner twice before being appointed its president, is reportedly close to the CPM leadership. The SIT has found that Vasu failed to act even after being informed that a portion of the gold used for plating remained with the “sponsor”.
