Sabarimala gold theft: PS Prashanth questioned for third time

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The SIT has questioned former Devaswom Board president PS Prashanth for the third time in the Sabarimala gold theft case. Documents of financial transactions and travel details were collected during the interrogation held at the Thiruvananthapuram Police Club. Prashanth got caught in the predicament for handing over the sculpture plates for gold plating to Unnikrishnan Potty, who committed fraud in 2019, in 2025 also. It is also being investigated whether Prashanth was in a hurry to give the sculpture slabs to Potty before stepping down from the post of president.

The plates were handed over without informing the High Court. Prashant's statement was that it was the officials who should have informed the High Court and that all other procedures had been completed. When it was pointed out that the gold on the plates had faded, Prashant stated that it was given for gold plating as per the instructions of the Tantri and that it was not handed over to Potty.

The plates were taken to Chennai under the escort of officials. There was no loss to the board. The weight of the gold plates increased after the repair. There was a mistake in informing the Special Commissioner in advance. An apology was made in the High Court regarding this.

The total weight of the 12 plates was recorded as 22.833 kilograms and the weight of the gold in them was 281.200 grams. Prashant testified that now the total weight of the Dwarapalaka sculptures has increased to 22.876 kilograms and the amount of gold has increased to 290.698 grams. However, the SIT suspects that the failure to inform the Special Commissioner was to facilitate the loot or to hide the loot that happened in 2019.