Kanchi mutt manager arrested

Sundaresa Iyer, a confidant of incarcerated Kanchi Shankaracharya Jayendra Saraswati and the manager of his mutt here, was arrested tonight by the Tamil Nadu police special investigation team SIT probing the murder of temple official Sankararaman and the assault of former mutt employee Radhakrishnan.

Iyer will be produced before a magistrate tomorrow, police sources said. He is the first mutt official to be arrested after the seer, who was taken into custody by the police on November 11, in connection with the murder case.

Iyer was summoned by the SIT for questioning around 7 pm tonight. He was accompanied by four or five mutt employees, who were sent out by the police. The police told lawyers representing the mutt official at around 10 pm, that Iyer had been arrested.

Earlier in the day, the SIT questioned several mutt employees to determine their possible involvement in the murder and assault cases.

Sundaresa Iyer ran the mutt administration after the Shankaracharya8217;s arrest and frequently met the arrested seer at Vellore prison.