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Former Travancore Devaswom Board President N Vasu was arrested in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft case, said Kerala Director General of Police Ravada Chandrasekhar.
The state's top cop confirmed the development as Vasu was questioned earlier by the Special Investigation Team. Vasu is listed as the third accused in the case. On November 7, the Special Investigation Team (SIT) of the Kerala Crime Branch arrested former Thiruvabharanam temple Commissioner KS Baiju in connection with a gold theft case. Unnikrishnan Potti, the prime accused, was reportedly taken into custody by the Special Investigation Team (SIT) on October 17. The SIT, which is investigating the matter, submitted its second report to the Kerala High Court on Wednesday, revealing serious irregularities in the minutes of the Travancore Devaswom Board. According to the SIT report, the record book does not include details about the transfer of the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idol to Unnikrishnan Potti in 2019. The Sabarimala gold controversy involves allegations of irregularities regarding the gold plating work at the Sabarimala temple. This situation arose from a donation of 30.3 kilograms of gold and 1,900 kilograms of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya in 1998, intended for the cladding of the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple in Kerala. Furthermore, the report indicates that no entries have been made after July 28, 2025. It also notes that the documentation regarding the transfer of gold platings to Smart Creations, the firm responsible for the electroplating of gold-clad copper coverings for the idols at the Sabarimala Ayyappan Temple, is missing from the minutes book. Currently, the SIT has requested permission to conduct a scientific investigation to determine the actual weight of the gold-plated idols before and after restoration. Earlier on Friday, (BJP) Kerala president Rajeev Chandrasekhar hit out at the Pinarayi Vijayan-led state government, claiming that the ongoing Sabarimala gold theft probe has shown that the temple cannot be managed by the Kerala government. "A realisation is creeping in all our minds, it cannot be left anymore to the Kerala government to manage Sabarimala. Telangana, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Maharashtra, people from all over the country and world worship at Sabarimala, and we do not feel confident in Vasavan or Chief Minister Vijayan in managing Sabarimala," the BJP leader told reporters here. He further called for the Central government's intervention in the case, urging the Centre to "eventually take over" the functioning of Sabarimala, saying that it can be done since temples come under the concurrent list. (ANI)
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