Kochi (Kerala) [India], January 19 : The High Court of Kerala, while considering a progress report on the alleged gold theft at Sabarimala, has ordered the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to conduct a fresh on-site inspection at Sabarimala temple on Tuesday.
The Division Bench, comprising Justice Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice K.V. Jayakumar, issued these directions after perusing a scientific report from the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre (VSSC).
The VSSC report has confirmed a significant reduction in the quantity and purity of gold in sacred structures, including the Dwarapalaka sculptures and the Sreekovil door frames.
According to the scientific findings, there is a clear mismatch between the original gold layers imported from Switzerland and donated by the UB Group in 1998 and the low-quality gold found on the structures returned after replating in 2019.
The SIT suspects that the original gold components were removed and replaced with freshly plated copper replicas after the gold was extracted by a chemical process.
To further the investigation, the court has authorised the SIT to record detailed statements from several key officials.
Earlier, the Socio-Religious organisation Sabarimala Karma Samithi held a protest outside Kerala Secretariat, demanding a CBI probe into the Sabarimala gold theft matter.
During the protest, National Vice Chairman of the Sabarimala Karma Samithy, SJR Kumar, alleged deliberate destruction of Sabarimala and the Hindu religion.
Speaking to ANI, Kumar said, "People are bent upon destroying Sabarimala and the Hindu religion... We are getting many reports about how the Devaswom Board is managing its temples... The SIT is formed by the Kerala police... It has to be handed over to the CBI or some other independent agency....."
These protests were held in the wake of the arrest of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) member KP Sankaradas, who was detained by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) in connection with the case.
Later, he was remanded by a judge of the Kollam Vigilance Court. The remand order was issued after the judge visited a private hospital in Thiruvananthapuram, where Shankaradas is currently undergoing treatment.
Shankaradas had served on the administrative committee of the Travancore Devaswom Board during the tenure of former TDB president A Padmakumar, who was earlier arrested in the case. Investigators believe decisions taken during this period are central to the alleged irregularities linked to the disappearance of gold meant for the Sabarimala temple.
The Sabarimala gold theft case concerns allegations of the misappropriation of approximately 4.54 kilograms of gold from sacred temple artefacts, including the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door frames and Dwarapalaka idols. The alleged theft took place in 2019 under the pretext of refinishing and re-gold-plating temple structures.