Daijiworld Media Network

Thiruvananthapuram, Jul 17: T P Sunderarajan, the former IPS officer whose petition in the Supreme Court to make an evaluation of the treasure stored in the underground vaults of the famous Lord Ananthapadmanabha Swamy Temple made headlines world wide, died after a brief illness here on Sunday July 17. He was 70.

He died at his home closed to the temple. He was reportedly suffering from fever for the past two days.

His funeral will take place later in the day.

A seven member committee formed by the apex court has completed the stock taking of five of the six vaults of the temple early this month. The treasure is unofficially estimated to be worth over Rs.one lakh crores.

Sunderarajan, a 1964 batch Indian Police Service officer, had approached the apex court citing that the temple affairs were being mismanaged. He wanted an estimation of the assets that remained untouched for several years.

He was part of the security ring of the former prime minister Indira Gandhi. He later quit his job and took up the legal profession.

With IANS inputs