Sabarimala gold theft: Crime Branch registers case, names ten people including Unnikrishnan Potty as accused

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Crime Branch has registered a case in connection with the Sabarimala gold theft. The case will be handed over to a special investigation team headed by H. Venkitesh, who is also the chief of the Crime Branch. The Crime Branch took over the case since it has state-wide investigative authority.

A total of ten people, including Unnikrishnan Potty, his aides, and Devaswom Board officials, have been named as accused. The charges include theft, forgery, criminal breach of trust, and conspiracy. Arrests and further legal actions are expected soon.

According to the Devaswom Vigilance report, Unnikrishnan Potty stole 474.9 grams of gold in 2019 while taking the Dwarapalaka idols and parts of the Sabarimala Sreekovil's door frames for repair work. The special investigation team will now check what happened to the stolen gold. It is suspected that Unnikrishnan Potty and some Devaswom officials jointly planned the fraud. The investigation will also look into which officials helped him. The High Court has directed that the probe must be completed within six weeks.

Meanwhile, reports suggest that the amount of missing gold could be higher. According to the final report of the Devaswom Vigilance, a total of 989 grams of gold- about 124 sovereigns- went missing from Sabarimala. This figure is based on the statement given by Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Dandari.