Kerala court confirms Sabarimala gold theft, orders SIT to submit report in 6 weeks

The Special inquiry Team (SIT) looking into the alleged manipulation of gold at the Sabarimala temple was given a six-week deadline by the Kerala High Court on Friday to finish its inquiry and submit a report.

This comes after it was discovered that more than 4.5 kg of gold vanished in 2019 while the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols were being restored. Regarding the “misappropriation of gold” from the shrine’s side frames or lintels, the court ordered the state police to file a criminal complaint. The vigilance report showed that a significant amount of gold, roughly 474.9 grams, had been sent to Unnikrishnan Potty, the sponsor of the gold-plating project, according to the bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar.

Strict confidentiality has been emphasized by the court, which has ordered that no information pertaining to the investigation be disclosed.

The division bench directed the SIT to send its findings to the court directly under a sealed cover as part of an interim order.

Two more DySPs can be added to the investigative team, and progress reports must be turned in every two weeks. Unnikrishnan Potty has been barred from discussing the case with the media, and the state police chief has been added as a party to the case.

The Travancore Devaswom Board’s dubious decision to provide Potty with the gold-plated copper plates for electroplating in 2019 was acknowledged by the High Court. The court emphasized that officials, including the Thantri and Melshanthi, were present and that the Dwarapalaka sculptures and the front and rear doors of the shrine were covered in gold at the time. The court reaffirmed that the true offenders behind the purported reduction and manipulation of the gold must be found through an unbiased, independent investigation. All of the case’s confiscated documents must be kept safe with the registrar.

After the Vigilance SP’s final report was turned in by SP S Sasidharan, the leader of the SIT, the bench had separate talks with him to make sure the probe was clear.

Speaking about the matter, VD Satheesan described it as a “serious situation,” adding that the loss of gold extended beyond the Dwarapalaka sculptures to the shrine’s doorways and a number of other locations. He drew attention to startling information the court had disclosed, such as the claim that the genuine Dwarapalaka sculptures were sold outside and were swapped out for gold-plated, phony copper plates that were shipped to Chennai.