Probe Agency ED Conducts Multi-State Raids In Sabarimala Gold Theft Case

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) on Tuesday intensified its probe into the Sabarimala temple gold theft case and conducted raids across multiple states. As many as 20 locations are being searched by the ED in Kerala, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu in connection with the case.

The Sabarimala gold theft case, which surfaced publicly in 2019, pertains to allegations that gold plating from temple idols and structural components was removed and siphoned off during repair and re-gold plating works. Investigators have traced the roots of the alleged irregularities back to 1998-99, when extensive gold plating was carried out at the hill shrine.

According to the investigation, in 2019, gold-coated idols weighing 42.8 kg were taken out of the temple for repair. When they were returned, their weight had reduced to 38.2 kg, indicating that around 4.5 kg of gold was missing. The idols of guardian deities and several temple components were sent to a private firm in Chennai for repairs and re-plating, a move the court later described as improper, as such work is usually conducted within the temple premises.

The Travancore Devaswom Board allegedly recorded gold plates as copper plates in official documents, which the court termed a serious lapse. A Special Investigation Team (SIT), constituted on court orders, compared old and new photographs and found that gold plating had been removed from idols, doors, steps, and carved sections of the temple.

The SIT stated that while there is no direct evidence of gold theft from the main idol of Lord Ayyappa, gold has gone missing from other parts of the temple structure. Investigators further found that gold was chemically extracted from plates at the Chennai firm, re-plated in smaller quantities, and the extracted gold eventually reached a jeweller in Ballari, Karnataka.

So far, 11 people have been arrested, including contractor Unnikrishnan Potti, a Ballari-based jeweller, the owner of the Chennai firm, and three CPI(M) leaders, among them former MLA A. Padmakumar. The SIT had earlier also arrested the temple's chief priest.

The ED raids are aimed at uncovering the money trail, laundering of proceeds, and possible benami transactions linked to the missing gold. Further action is expected as the financial probe progresses.