Thiruvananthapuram: Leader of the Opposition V D Satheesan on Tuesday alleged that two IPS officers assigned by the Chief Minister’s Office were interfering with the ongoing Special Investigation Team probe into the Sabarimala gold loss case.

Satheesan said the opposition was refraining from naming the officers concerned out of propriety, but warned that their identities would be disclosed if they continued to exert pressure on the investigating officers.

Stressing the need for a sincere and impartial investigation, he said the case involved the theft of gold belonging to Lord Ayyappa. He added that the opposition was closely monitoring the probe and would highlight any lapses in the investigation.

Satheesan said the probe was now moving forward only because of the intervention of the Kerala High Court. He clarified that the opposition had not so far expressed any lack of confidence in the SIT and said he expected the real culprits to be brought to justice at the earliest.

The Opposition leader said the party would wait for a few more days to assess the progress of the investigation and cautioned that the situation should not reach a stage where a CBI probe becomes inevitable.

He alleged that it was only because the investigation was under court scrutiny that it had progressed to some extent. Otherwise, he claimed, the probe would have gone nowhere. Had the investigation remained entirely under the government’s control, Satheesan said, key accused, including former Travancore Devaswom Board presidents A Padmakumar and N Vasu, would not have been arrested.

The Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa Temple has been at the centre of a major political controversy over the alleged loss of gold for some time.

A Special Investigation Team is probing the matter, and several people, including two former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board, have been arrested.

The SIT recently informed the Vigilance Court that Pankaj Bhandari of Smart Creations and Ballari-based jeweller Govardhan Roddam played a central role in a conspiracy to steal gold from artefacts of the Sabarimala temple. Both were arrested by the SIT on Friday.