Kancheepuram, Dec. 24 (PTI): Sundaresa Iyer, a confidant of jailed Kanchi seer Jayendra Saraswati and the manager of his mutt, was tonight arrested by the special investigation team of Tamil Nadu police.

Iyer 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 of a temple official, Shankar Raman.

Iyer was summoned for questioning around 7 pm. Lawyers representing the mutt official were told by the police around 10 pm that Iyer had been arrested. Iyer would be produced before a magistrate tomorrow, police sources said.

Earlier, in Chennai, the Tamil Nadu government transferred sensitive cases involving Appu, a key accused in the Raman murder, to the special investigation team in Kancheepuram.

Raman, manager of the Sri Varadaraja Perumal temple, was murdered inside the temple premises on September 3 by a gang allegedly led by Appu, alias Krishnasamy Reddy.

Appu, the third accused in the case, was arrested in Andhra Pradesh last Sunday and has been in police custody in Kancheepuram. The accused, believed to have high political connections, is being grilled by the investigation team led by Kancheepuram superintendent of police K. Prem Kumar.

Even so, the government has sought to transfer a case involving Appu dating back to 2002 to consolidate all cases being handled by the investigation team. The case relates to the suicide by Ramesh, his wife and two children in Chennai?s Anna Nagar.