Shabrimala case: accused in remand

Kochi, Aug 3: The three accused in the Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Mohanararu attack case, including key accused Sobha John, were today remanded in judicial custody till August 17 by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.

Ernakulam CJM P D Sharanghdharan posted an application filed by the police, seeking custody of the accused, for hearing tomorrow.

In its application, filed by Circle Inspector, Central Police Station, Ernakulam, police has sought the custody of the accused till August 11.

The magistrate also directed the superintendent of the Ernakulam sub-jail, where the accused have been lodged, to provide them medical assistance, if necessary.

A counsel for the accused said that a bail application on their behalf will be filed later today.

In its application, the police said that further investigation is to be conducted in the presence of the accused at various places to locate other accused persons and to find out the mobile phone and gold ornaments taken from the 'tantri'.

The police has registered the case against the accused under IPC sections 395 (robbery) and 120-B (criminal conspiracy).

Sobha John and co-accused Anil Kumar and Vijil were produced before the court at 1100 hrs. and after a brief hearing, the magistrate remanded them in judicial custody.

They were then taken to the Ernakulam sub-jail.

The three were arrested by the police yesterday in connection with the July 23 attack on the Sabarimala tantri in Sobha's flat here.

Sobha John, in whose house the incident happened, has been described by the police as a key link in an alleged sex racket in the city while Anil Kumar and Vijil were her accomplices.

Sobha was allegedly acting as a pimp and then blackmailing the people to whom she was ''supplying'' the girls, police said.

Tantri Kandararu Mohanararu, one of the main priests at the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, was sacked by the Travancore Devaswom Board on July 24 as reports of his alleged involvement in a sex racket surfaced.

UNI