275 sovereigns of gold stolen from Sabarimala sanctum

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The group behind the Sabarimala gold heist is believed to have siphoned off more than 275 sovereigns of gold by pretending to regild the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) door.

Back in 1998, industrialist Vijay Mallya funded the gold-plating of the Sreekovil door, using over 2.5 kg of gold. In 2019, Unnikrishnan Potty replaced this door, claiming the old one had lost its shine and was damaged by rats. However, investigators say the new door contains only about 40 sovereigns of gold, indicating that gold worth several crores may have been stolen

A total of 30.291 kilograms of gold had been used for gold-plating different parts of the Sreekovil structure. Cases have been registered for stealing gold layers from the Dwarapalaka sculptures and from the thick wooden frame of the Sreekovil door. Potty is the first accused in both cases.

Investigators suspect that gold from the old door was melted and removed, and only a very small amount was used to coat the new door. There are also reports that huge sums of money were collected under the pretext of gold-plating the door.

Manipulation in official records

1. The discovery that the Sreekovil door itself had been looted confirms that a major fraud took place at Sabarimala. To cover up the gold theft, manipulation was done even in the official mahazar (inventory records). Although Potty had received a gold-plated door, the mahazar only lists plain door panels.

2. Under Potty’s sponsorship, a new teak wood door plated first with copper and then with gold was installed in March 2019. The mahazar does mention that this new door was gold-plated, but it contains no reference to the gold from the old door that was removed.

3. The mahazar prepared by former Executive Officer Sudheesh Kumar states that two panels of the old door were handed over to the then Administrative Officer Murari Babu.

4. Although records claim that the old door is kept in the Sabarimala locker room, it was actually lying near the Abhishekam counter—exposed to sun and rain—until recently. Only after the gold theft came to light was it moved to the strong room.