Sabarimala gold theft case completely sabotaged, says Congress' Ramesh Chennithala

He said the chemical analysis report has been delayed and that the Chief Minister is responsible for both the delay in sanctioning and the report. Chennithala alleged that while the CM's own party members failed to secure bail earlier, the system is now being manipulated to facilitate default bail. If all the accused are released, he warned, the case will be derailed.

He argued that had a partial chargesheet been filed, the accused would not have been eligible for bail, noting that even in the actress assault case, a partial charge sheet was submitted. Despite four months since the SIT was formed, he said authorities have still failed to trace where the stolen gold is.

Questioning whether this is being treated like an ordinary case, Chennithala said the chemical analysis report could have been expedited, given the gravity of the matter. He also demanded a thorough probe into the fund collections, noting that the CPI(M) has around 300 martyrs, and funds were collected not just from party workers but from the public.

Criticising CPI(M) state secretary M.V. Govindan for saying he did not wish to respond, Chennithala said such an "arrogant stance is unacceptable" and asserted that the public will demand answers.

Earlier, on January 21, Chennithala questioned the Enforcement Directorate's (ED) raids in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case, stating that while the matter must be probed thoroughly, the central agency needs to clarify its role when there is already a Special Investigation Team (SIT) which is conducting a detailed probe.

Addressing media persons, Chennithala said, "Sabarimala gold theft case has to be thoroughly investigated so that all accused are booked under the law. Our experience with ED has been bitter, as nothing happens when the agency conducts any investigation. We hope that does not happen in this case."

He added that the SIT, which is probing the case under the supervision of the Kerala High Court, is doing a commendable job and questioned the need for a parallel ED investigation.

The remarks came after the ED launched extensive raids at 21 locations across Kerala, Karnataka and Tamil Nadu under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) on Tuesday.

The searches are part of an investigation into alleged money laundering linked to the Sabarimala gold smuggling case.

ED teams conducted raids at the residences of key accused, including Unnikrishnan Potti, former Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar, N Vasu, Murari Babu and gold traders Govardhan and Pankaj Bhandari. (ANI)