Pathanamthitta: The Pathanamthitta district committee of the CPM has suspended former Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar, one of the prime accused in the Sabarimala gold loss case. However, the party stopped short of taking any harsher disciplinary action against him.

The disciplinary action was taken at the CPM Pathanamthitta District Committee that was held on Monday in the presence of CPM Central Committee member T M Thomas Isaac.

The CPM's official stand is that further action would be taken after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) submits its final report. The party has also put up a stern face saying that Padmakumar could be expelled if the SIT provides proof of grave wrongdoing.

The SIT is in the final stages of investigation and temple artefacts were collected on Sunday as part of the probe.

The suspension of Padmakumar has come soon after the CPM Review Report had identified as one of the major reasons for the election defeat, the party's perceived support for the Sabarimala gold scandal accused.

It was allegedly during Padmakumar's stint that the Travancore Devaswom Board had first considered handing over the Dwarapalaka idols and the Sreekovil frames to Unnikrishnan Potty, the prime accused in the scandal, for gold-plating.

At the height of the controversy, the CPM had refused to take disciplinary action against Padmakumar except prohibit him from party-related work when he came out after 90 days in jail. CPM state secretary M V Govindan even gave Padmakumar the benefit of the doubt. He said action could be taken only after the SIT comes out with its full report and not on the basis of mere allegations.

In the post-election scenario, when action looked imminent, there seemed to be attempts on Padmakumar's side to somehow preempt the disciplinary move. There were what looked like motivated leaks of 'people close to Padmakumar'.

'Close sources' informed that Padmakumar's autobiography was on its way. This was widely perceived as a threat, a suggestion that he would spill the beans.

It was also said that Padmakumar was deliberately withdrawn from the Sabarimala shrine on January 1, 2019, the day two women were escorted to the sanctum sanctorum. These sources close to Padmakumar said that he was abruptly asked to return from Sannidhanam and meet a person in Thiruvananthapuram who was "equally influential in the party and the government". And in Thiruvananthapuram, Padmakumar was refused access to this "influential person".

'Close sources' also informed that the party was miffed that Padmakumar openly said that women of child-bearing age in his family would never visit Sabarimala.

The implication was that Padmakumar was made scapegoat for taking a stand that was at variance with the party. Padmakumar, however, has not yet responded to the suspension order.

Padmakumar, who was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT), secured statutory bail in cases related to the alleged theft of gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and the alleged misappropriation of gold from the temple's door frames after completing the mandatory 90-day remand period.