The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will organise protests and awareness campaigns to press its demand for a Central Bureau of Investigation probe in the gold theft case linked to the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, party State general secretary M.T. Ramesh has said.
At a press conference to detail the decisions of a BJP core committee meeting here on Saturday, Mr. Ramesh said ‘Sabarimala Samrakshana Deepam’ would be lit in all households and important centres in the State on Makaravilakku day on January 14 to raise the demand for a probe that would bring to book all those involved in the theft.
All sections of people interested in preserving the sanctity of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple would be brought together as part of this massive protest, Mr. Ramesh said.
He reiterated that the BJP was of the view that leaders of both the Left Democratic Front and the United Democratic Front were involved in the theft.
The Enforcement Directorate, he said, was investigating the financial aspect of the theft, but equally important was the corruption angle and the role of “international gold thieves” in the case. A CBI probe was necessary, but the Chief Minister had ruled it out. “Why does the State government fear a CBI probe?” he asked.
