Accused in criminal case; collected money from outside state, serious findings against Unnikrishnan Potty 

PATHANAMTHITTA: There are serious findings against Bengaluru businessman Unnikrishnan Potty, who took over the sponsorship for gold plating the sheets of Dwarapalaka idols. The investigation was based on suspicions related to the assets of Unnikrishnan Potty, who came to Sabarimala from Bengaluru as an assistant to the Melshanthi. It has been found that Unnikrishnan Potty collected money extensively for gold plating and for the annadanam.

He collected money from other states. Vigilance suspects that taking the gold plating to Bengaluru was also part of this money collection. From where did Unnikrishnan Potty get the assets to become the sponsor of the gold plating in Sabarimala in a few years. He established contacts with rich devotees from Andhra Pradesh, Tamil Nadu and Bengaluru and later through them he collected money from various sponsors. Unnikrishnan Potty is an accused in a criminal case involving a house break-in, attack and arson in Thiruvananthapuram. He is also facing court proceedings in another land fraud case.

The Devaswom Vigilance will inform the high court about this. There is also a demand to investigate all the financial transactions that took place in Sabarimala from 1999 to 2005. Meantime, the vigilance had found that Unnikrishnan Potty had taken the gold plated sheets of the Dwarapalaka idols in Sabarimala to Bengaluru. The sheets were taken to the Ayyappa temple in Srirampura. Unnikrishnan Potty was a former priest of this temple. The incident happened in 2019. The Ayyappa temple authorities in Srirampura had revealed to a media that he had brought an object saying that it was door of the sanctum sanctorum.