Sabarimala Gold Theft Case: A Special Investigation Team probing alleged misappropriation of gold from the Sabarimala temple Thursday took Unnikrishnan Potty, who had sponsored gold-plating of temple items, into custody.
Following directions from the Kerala High Court, the SIT registered two cases of theft, conspiracy and criminal breach of trust against Potty, former members of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) of 2019, and several officials. Potty has been named the key accused in both.
The probe pertains to allegations of “missing” gold from the Dwarapalaka idols and door frames at the temple’s sanctum sanctorum.
A report from the temple vigilance and chief security officer found that Potty failed to return 474.9 grams of gold to the TDB after gold-plating the idols and door frames in 2019.
On Thursday, Potty was arrested from his Thiruvananthapuram residence after scrutiny of documents seized from the TDB headquarters. The court had observed that gold was illegally extracted from the temple’s gold-plated plates and suspected misappropriation.
Based on the vigilance report, the High Court noted that in 2019, gold-clad plates of the temple’s Dwarapalaka idols and door frames were removed, recorded as copper plates, and taken to a Chennai-based firm by Potty for another round of plating. These items, already covered in gold in 1999, were handed over to him on different occasions in 2019.
The court found that the existing gold was extracted, and after replating, 474.9 grams of gold remained unreturned to the temple.
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According to the report, Potty, who once worked at a Bengaluru temple, came to Sabarimala in 2007 as a helper to priests. He later became known for facilitating VIP darshan for businessmen, film stars and other celebrities.
Four years later, Potty was removed from priest-assistant duties but allegedly continued ties with the TDB. In 2019, vigilance officers found it was Potty who had suggested the gold-plating of the items.
