3 accused in Sabarimala tantri case remanded
Kochi, Aug 4: The three accused in the Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Mohanararu attack case, including key accused Sobha John, were today remanded in police custody till August eighth by the Ernakulam chief judicial magistrate.
Ernakulam CJM P D Sharanghdharan also adjourned hearing on the bail applications of the three accused for August eighth.
The magistrate gave the ruling after considering an application, filed by the police yesterday, seeking custody of the accused till August 11.
Police had 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 had been remanded in judicial custody till August 17 by the court yesterday and lodged in Ernakulam sub-jail.
The three were arrested on August two in connection with the July 23 attack on the Sabarimala tantri in Sobha's flat here.
Sobha John 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