Gold plated issue; HC appoints special team for probe, govt welcomes decision

KOCHI: The Kerala High Court has entrusted a special team to investigate the gold-plated issue. ADGP H Venkatesh will monitor the investigation and it will be led by SP S Sasidhran. There are five people in the investigation team. The report has to be submitted in a month. The court directed not to release the investigation report.

H Venkatesh is one of the senior-most police officers in the state police. He was even considered for the post of DGP in charge of law and order. The government welcomed the decision of the high court. Many including the Congress had demanded a CBI investigation into the gold plating issue. What all items had gone missing from Sabarimala? Who are all on top of Unnikrishnan potty? How did the weight of 42 kilos of gold got reduced? Many issues need to be clarified, including whether the devaswom board is involved in it. The board did not have a clear answer to many questions.

Reports emerged yesterday that there is mystery in the Mahasar prepared when the sheets of the Dwarapalaka idols, which were taken from Sabarimala to Chennai for gold plating in 2019, were placed back in the Sannidhanam. Neither the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, the official custodian of the precious treasures of the Sabarimala temple, nor the Devaswom Smith, who is supposed to certify their quality and quantity, nor the vigilance officer, who is supposed to monitor the procedures, have signed the document. It is reported that the quantity, weight and value of the gold and copper used to coat the copper plates are not mentioned in the Mahasar.