Sabarimala gold theft: Ex-TDB officer sent to SIT custody
Sabarimala gold theft: Ex-TDB officer sent to SIT custody
A magistrate remands a former Travancore Devaswom Board official to SIT custody as investigators probe misappropriation of gold-plated copper panels at Sabarimala.
A magistrate’s court in Ranni has remanded Murari Babu, a former administrative officer with the Travancore Devaswom Board, to the custody of the Special Investigation Team probing the Sabarimala gold theft case. The move comes as investigators widen their questions into how gilded panels from the temple were handled and whether financial irregularities occurred during the 2019 episode.
SIT officials allege that Babu facilitated fraud by categorising gilded panels donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998 as made of pure copper. This misclassification is at the heart of the suspicion that the temple’s treasury was manipulated for personal or improper gain, even as the panels were rediscovered in need of restoration.
The alleged fraud centers on the 2019 decision by the Travancore Devaswom Board to accept a restoration offer from Unnikrishnan Potti, the alleged mastermind, who promised to revitalize the “frayed” panels. Authorities say the restoration enabled the gilding process to proceed under dubious pretences, raising questions about the authenticity of the materials and the integrity of the work performed.
The SIT has already arrested Potti in October on charges related to smelting the gilded panels and is investigating whether the original gilded moulds were replicated in cheaper alloys to market the originals to wealthy collectors. The inquiry also includes allegations that artefacts were chartered to devotees in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai for private worship.
In a related development, the SIT produced K.S. Baiju, the former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, before a magistrate in Thiruvananthapuram and secured judicial remand. He is the seventh accused in the case, with investigators claiming a deliberate lapse by his absence on the day the encasings were dismantled, and by his failure to oversee proper categorisation of the panels. The absence of the temple smith at the time has further pushed Baiju into the SIT’s orbit of scrutiny.
Another former TDB official, D. Sudheesh Kumar, who served as executive officer, remains in judicial custody following his arrest last week as the probe continues to unfold. The case underscores a broader inquiry into how temple assets were managed and the potential avenues of financial misuse that may have compromised ceremonial propriety.
