Ex-Temple Body Chief Arrested In Sabarimala Gold Theft Case

The Special Investigation Team on Thursday arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board president A Padmakumar in the Sabarimala gold theft case, officials said. He was the Devaswom Board president in 2019, when the gold theft took place.

The arrest came after the SIT questioned him for several hours at the State Police Headquarters since this morning.

On November 17, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) began a scientific examination at the Sabarimala Sannidhanam as part of the ongoing probe into the gold theft case. Officials are collecting samples from the Dwarapalaka sculpture inside the sanctum sanctorum and from the gold-covered wooden door structure.

On November 7, the SIT of the Kerala Crime Branch arrested former Thiruvabharanam Temple Commissioner KS Baiju in connection with the case.

This comes after the Kerala High Court granted permission to the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a scientific examination as part of its ongoing investigation into the alleged case.

The Sabarimala gold controversy involves alleged irregularities concerning the gold plating work at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998, intended for cladding the sanctum sanctorum and wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala.

Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused, was reportedly taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on October 17. The SIT, which is investigating the matter, submitted its second report to the Kerala High Court on Wednesday, revealing serious irregularities in the minutes of the Travancore Devaswom Board. According to the SIT report, the record book does not include details about the transfer of the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idol to Unnikrishnan Potti in 2019.

Furthermore, the report indicates that no entries have been made after July 28, 2025. It also notes that the documentation regarding the transfer of gold platings to Smart Creations, the firm responsible for the electroplating of gold-clad copper coverings for the idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple is missing from the minutes book. Currently, the SIT has requested permission to conduct a scientific investigation to determine the actual weight of the gold-plated idols before and after restoration.

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