Kerala HC orders SIT probe into alleged theft of Sabarimala gold

The Kerala High Court on Monday ordered the formation of a Special Investigation Team SIT to probe the alleged theft of gold from Sabarimala temple while also directing that the investigation be confidential and no information be leakedThe investigation will be led by former Superintendent of Police S Sasidharan and overseen by Crime branch chief Additional Director General of Police ADGP H Venkatesh The team will consist of three inspectors including cyber expertsThe High Court Devaswom Bench has directed the special investigation team to keep the investigation strictly confidential and not to leak any informationThe courts order pertains from 2019 when the gold lined copper plates were taken down by the Travancore Devaswom Board TDB The issue intensified when Unnikrishnan Potti claimed that two goldplated panels donated to the temple in 2019 were missing from the strongroom just ahead of the TDBsponsored Global Ayyappa Sangamam event Recently the IDB vigilance had recovered the missing items but it was alleged that around 5 kg of weight was lost from the platesMeanwhile Kerala Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan said that TDB vigilance will submit its preliminary report to the High Court on October 8Today the opposition staged a big futile effort to create a controversy Based on the High Courts directive the Devaswom Vigilance is conducting an investigation The preliminary report will be submitted to the court tomorrow October 6 the minister said in a press conference hereEarlier on October 5 the TDB vigilance recorded the statement of Unnikrishnan Potty a former helper and the sponsor of goldplating works at the Sabarimala Ayyappa TempleUnnikrishnan Potty was questioned for nearly three hours at the TDB Vigilance headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram After the session he left the premises without responding clearly to the medias questionsWhen pressed Potty remarked Dont I have freedom as an individual Everything will be proven before the High Court Dont I have the right to move freely The truth will prevailThe inquiry stems from allegations that several goldplated panels removed from the temple in 2019 and 2025 for restoration at workshops in Hyderabad and Chennai were mishandled with discrepancies reported in their weight and gold contentThe controversy reignited after the Kerala High Court ordered the immediate return of the goldplated panels taken for repairs and criticised the TDB for violating procedural norms by not informing the courtappointed Sabarimala Special CommissionerBoth the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP have announced statewide agitations from today and had been demanding a High Courtmonitored Central Bureau of Investigation CBI probe into the alleged irregularitiesThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever