One more arrested in Sabarimala tantri attack case

Kochi, Aug 11 (UNI) In a significant development, police today arrested one more person, identified as Biji Peter, in connection with the July 23 attack on the sacked Sabarimala Tantri Kandararu Mohanararu here.

A police statement said Peter (31) was arrested from his residence this morning and several articles related to the case seized from him.

These included the tantri's gold ornaments, a dagger, two mobile phones one belonging to the tantri and the other to Shanta, the woman with whom the priest was allegedly photographed in a compromising position and a film roll.

All the articles would be produced in the court as case property, the statement added.

Describing Peter as a interior designer, police said he helped one of the main accused, Abdul alias Bachu Rahman, to escape from Kochi to Kozhikode in his car.

Police also seized Rahman's passport, identity card, bank books and two Lancer cars.

He also hid the articles, which were robbed from the tantri during the July 23 attack. However, he was not among the six-member goonda gang which attacked the priest, the statement said.

With this arrest, the police have now nabbed four suspects in the case including main accused Sobha John in whose house the attack took place.

The other two are her accomplices Vigil and Anil Kumar. These three were arrested on August two. They were all in judicial custody.

Police are still on the lookout for Bachu Rahman, who is described as the key conspirator alongwith Sobha John. In a telephone call to a Kasargod-based eveninger 'Uttar Desham,' a man claiming to be Bachu Rahman said the attack on the tantri was carried out at the behest of some ''higher ups'' and indicated that blackmailing the priest was the main motive behind the attack.

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

Sobha John has been described by the police as a key link in an alleged sex racket in the city while Anil Kumar and Vigil were her accomplices.

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.

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