CPI(M) leader, ex-TDB chief booked in Sabarimala gold case
Kerala police's SIT has charged top Travancore Devaswom Board officials, including A Padmakumar, over alleged gold theft from Sabarimala temple.
The special investigation team (SIT) of the Kerala police, constituted on orders of the Kerala high court to probe the alleged theft of gold assets from the Sabarimala temple, has booked top officials of the previous governing body of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) including its then president and CPI(M) leader A Padmakumar in its FIR in the case, officials familiar with the matter said.
Among those who have been arraigned, apart from Padmakumar, are 2019 TDB president N Vasu and Unnikrishnan Potty, the Bengaluru-based priest-turned-businessman who volunteered to “sponsor” the gold polishing of the panels of ‘Dwarapalaka’ idols and who is currently at the centre of the row.
Potty has been reportedly booked as the first accused in the case. The accused face charges of misappropriation of property, forgery and criminal breach of trust.
“I am confident that the governing council under me has committed no crimes. When we were in power, we have violated no customs or rules. Let the court say if we are guilty. I am ready to face any punishment,” Padmakumar told reporters.
The SIT is expected to call Padmakumar for questioning and other previous top TDB officials in the coming days.
The high court order to constitute an SIT came in the suo motu case taken up based on the finding that the purported gold-clad copper sheets enveloping the ‘Dwarapalaka’ idols near the doors of the sanctum sanctorum were handed out by the Devaswom authorities to Potty recently for repairs in Chennai without the permission of either the special commissioner (Sabarimala) or the high court.
It was also found in the report submitted by the special commissioner last month that the gold-clad sheets, sent for similar repairs in 2019, had shrunk in weight by approximately 4.5 kilograms when they were returned to the Devaswom authorities after the repairs. Incidentally, the man who had purportedly volunteered to fund the repairs of the sheets and had taken them to Chennai for repairs both in 2019 and this year was Potty, the Bengaluru-based businessman.
The Devaswom (Vigilance) wing has submitted a preliminary report in the high court in which it has pointed to prima-facie evidence of misappropriation of gold from the ‘Dwarapalaka’ gold-clad sheets over the past several years with collusion of local Devaswom officials.
The TDB, which manages the Sabarimala temple, is an autonomous body and receives grants and funds from the State to run around 1200 temples in the state.
The row over alleged theft of gold assets from the Sabarimala temple has ignited fierce protests by the Congress and the BJP across the state. The row comes just weeks after the LDF government organised a grand conclave of Ayyappa devotees, the first of its kind, in order to collect suggestions for the overall development of the hill shrine.
