The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case on Monday arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) member N Vijayakumar.

Vijaya Kumar, who was a board member during the tenure of former TDB president A Padmakumar in 2019, surrendered before the SIT at its Thiruvananthapuram office, following which his arrest was recorded. He was subsequently produced before the Vigilance Court, Thiruvananthapuram, which remanded him to judicial custody till January 12. Meanwhile, his bail plea is scheduled for a hearing on December 31 before the Vigilance Court in Kollam.

The SIT had earlier arrested former TDB presidents A Padmakumar and N Vasu for their alleged roles in the case. Official sources said the probe gathered momentum after the Kerala High Court made strong observations on delays in the investigation, following which the SIT intensified its efforts, including repeated visits to Vijaya Kumar’s residence.

Recently, a bench of Justice A Badharudeen criticised the pace of the probe while dismissing the bail pleas of former TDB president N Vasu, former deputy devaswom commissioner Murari Babu and former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K S Baiju. The court expressed concern over the failure to arrest several Devaswom Board members who were in office during the period of the alleged theft, despite their being named as accused, including Vijaya Kumar and K P Sankar Das.

The High Court observed that the delay in arrests indicated stagnation in the investigation and directed the investigating officer to proceed against all erring officials without discrimination. The arrest of K P Sankar Das is yet to be made.

As part of the ongoing probe, the SIT last week arrested Smart Creation CEO Pankaj Bhandari and Govardhan, a Bellary-based jewellery owner. The agency had earlier also taken into custody former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K S Baiju and the prime accused, Unnikrishnan Potti.