Former Devaswom Board Member N. Vijayakumar Arrested in Sabarimala Gold Smuggling Case

Kochi: Former Devaswom Board member N. Vijayakumar has been arrested in connection with the Sabarimala gold smuggling case. Vijayakumar was a member of the administrative committee led by former Devaswom Board President A. Padmakumar, who was also arrested earlier.

The Special Investigation Team’s (SIT) arrest of Vijayakumar validates Padmakumar’s statement regarding collective responsibility in the alleged gold smuggling. Earlier, the SIT had sent a notice to Vijayakumar, but he reportedly did not appear for questioning. Subsequently, Vijayakumar was taken into direct custody today, followed by his official arrest.

Those arrested in the case so far include: Sponsor Unnikrishnan Potti, former Devaswom Board Administrative Officer Murari Babu, former Executive Officer D. Sudheesh Kumar, former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K.S. Baiju, former Devaswom Commissioner and President N. Vasu, former Devaswom Board President A. Padmakumar, former Administrative Officer S. Sreekumar, Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari, gold merchant Bellary Govardhan, and former Travancore Devaswom Board member N. Vijayakumar.