The Aryavarth Express
Thiruvananthapuram:
The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case on Wednesday arrested Sreekumar, a former Administrative Officer (AO) of the Travancore Devaswom Board, Kerala Police said.
According to officials, Sreekumar was serving as the Administrative Officer in 2019 when gold plating was removed from the Dwarapalaka sculptures at the Sabarimala temple. He was taken into custody after being summoned to the Crime Branch office for questioning as part of the ongoing investigation.
The arrest comes amid intensified scrutiny of alleged irregularities in the gold plating work at the revered hill shrine. On Sunday, senior Congress leader Ramesh Chennithala alleged large-scale corruption in the case, claiming that 30.5 kilograms of gold had been siphoned off from Sabarimala and replaced with copper plated with gold.
Calling it a “grave betrayal of faith,” Chennithala said he had shared crucial information with the SIT, which he claimed was obtained from a businessman based abroad.
“Sabarimala is a sacred site visited by more than five crore devotees every year. Unfortunately, unscrupulous elements allegedly removed 30.5 kg of gold and replaced it with copper coated in gold. I want to know where the gold has gone,” he told reporters.
Chennithala further alleged that antiques worth between ₹500 crore and ₹1,000 crore were smuggled out and said the details had been formally conveyed to investigators.
The Congress leader’s remarks come as the SIT continues its probe into the long-running controversy surrounding the gold plating of the Sabarimala temple sanctum. Earlier, on November 26, the SIT arrested A. Padmakumar, former president of the Sabarimala Executive Committee and a CPI(M) Pathanamthitta district committee member, after securing court permission.
Former Thiruvabharanam temple commissioner K.S. Baiju was arrested on November 7, while Unnikrishnan Potti, identified as the prime accused in the case, was taken into custody on October 17.
The Sabarimala gold controversy relates to alleged irregularities in the gold cladding work of the sanctum sanctorum and wooden carvings of the Ayyappa temple. The work originated from a donation made in 1998 by industrialist Vijay Mallya, who had contributed 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper for the project.
