Bangalore Mirror: Bangalore: Tuesday, July 24, 2012.
The mystery behind the death of retired IPS officer T P Sundara Rajan, who was instrumental in opening the treasure vaults of the famous Sree Padmanabhaswamy temple in Kerala, has taken an interesting turn with Bangalore-based RTI activist T Narasimha Murthy seeking details about his death. The temple’s secret chambers are said to contain wealth valued over Rs 1,00,000 crore.
Murthy is asking the Kerala police two questions: Why didn’t they conduct a post-mortem though Rajan died in mysterious circumstances on July 17, 2011? Did the officer face any threat from the temple authorities as he had knocked on Supreme Court’s doors to get the temple chambers opened?
Kerala State Information Commission has now directed Kerala police to answer Narasimhan’s questions within three weeks.
Who is Sundara Rajan?
It was Rajan’s writ petition that culminated in the opening of the temple's vaults. When the last of the temple’s six cellars was opened on July 2, 2011, a gold idol weighing at least 35 kg was found, along with several other gold, diamond and silver articles.
Rajan breathed his last even as an inventory of the temple’s assets was being prepared. He was one of the seven members of the committee appointed by the court to oversee the opening of the vaults.
Though Murthy filed his RTI application on July 20, 2011, the police department failed to give any reply, forcing him to approach the State Information Commission.
“I suspect foul play in Rajan’s death. I am keen to know the circumstances that led to his death
because his move to protect the temple’s assets had earned him many enemies. I have sought information under the RTI Act in public interest,” said Murthy.
“Kerala cops have not taken the SIC’s order seriously. It’s been more than a month since SIC passed the order but cops are yet to respond. I will again send the order copy to Thiruvanthapuram police commissioner. If I don’t get any reply from him, I will approach the court,” he added.
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