ED Summons Actor Jayaram in Sabarimala Gold Loss Case
The Enforcement Directorate (ED) has given a summons to Malayalam actor Jayaram to appear before it in relation to the Sabarimala gold loss case, under investigation as a money laundering case, officials said on Friday. The central agency is also on the verge of summoning the main alleged criminal in the case of Unnikrishnan Potty who was released on bail recently in a court in Kollam.
Jayaram has, according to the officials, been requested to appear before the ED in the foreseeable future to give his statement. A Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Police is also investigating the case. The SIT had previously interrogated the actor in Chennai following the reports which had implicated him in a video depicting Jayaram and Potty conducting a puja together. This is the footage that apparently formed the foundation of the questioning by the police.
In the previous investigation, Jayaram did not admit to having engaged in an evil deed. He explained that he had no relation whatsoever with the company that replated the gold-covered artefacts of the Sabarimala temple, and the project sponsors.
Unnikrishnan Potty was freed on bail in a second case connected to the supposed loss of gold on Thursday after being released on bail in the Thiruvananthapuram sub-jail. Potty had applied to the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) to grant her permission to replicate the artefacts in the temple which had been coated with gold, to which she was granted permission in 2019. The replating work was later done by a Chennai-based company on the artefacts.
Investigators also claim that some of the gold was lost in the process of replating. The ED has already questioned former TDB administrative officer Murari Babu and S Sreekumar in relation to the case with Sreekumar reexamined on Friday. The agency also searched in the course of the ongoing investigation last month.
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