Former Devaswom Commissioner Arrested In Sabarimala Gold Heist Case

Former Travancore Devaswom Board president and ex-Devaswom Commissioner N Vasu was arrested by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in the Sabarimala gold heist case on Tuesday. He was summoned for questioning and subsequently arrested. 

SIT chief SP S Sashidharan had questioned Vasu earlier, and the team plans to produce him in court today. 

The arrest puts pressure on Kerala's ruling left government, as his appointment to the board was seen as a political appointment. Vasu was also a private secretary to former CPI(M) Minister PK Gurudasan.

Vasu was also elected as a panchayat member twice as a CPI(M) candidate. Both the BJP and the Congress party in the state had questioned the delay of Vasu's arrest during their high-decibel protests for the last four weeks.

The arrest relates to the door lintel gold sheet theft case, an important part of the larger gold theft investigation. Vasu served as the Devaswom Commissioner in March 2019 and later took charge as Board President in November 2019.

Investigators examined a December 9, 2019, email sent by prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti to Vasu, in which Potti claimed that leftover gold remained after completing work on the doorkeepers' statues and the sanctum panels and sought permission to use it to solemnise a girl's wedding. 

The SIT found that Vasu failed to report this irregularity or the gold-weight discrepancy to the board. The investigation further concluded that he had instructed Murari Babu to record the gold sheets as copper in the official mahassar. Although the SIT had questioned Vasu earlier and allowed him to leave, he later sought more time, citing health issues, when he was served a second notice. The SIT then summoned him again and took him into custody.

Earlier, the Kerala High Court had noted that the Board's decision not to act against Unnikrishnan Potti despite receiving the email was "surprising." With this arrest, Vasu becomes the fourth official taken into custody in connection with the case. The SIT has named six accused across two FIRs, while Unnikrishnan Potti, former officials Murari Babu, KS Baiju, and Sudheesh Kumar, remain in judicial custody.