Big sharks involved in Sabarimala gold theft: Potty discloses conspiracy by revealing fifteen names; planning in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Unnikrishnan Potty has revealed to the Crime Branch the details of the conspiracy hatched by the Devaswom high-ups with fraudsters from other states to loot the gold of Sabarimala Ayyappa. The details of about fifteen people involved in the fraud gang and conspiracy have been revealed. The conspiracy and planning for the gold robbery took place in Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai. The Devaswom officials acted on the instructions given by the fraudsters from there. They planned to loot more gold. The Crime Branch is preparing to submit an interim report to the High Court on Tuesday.

Potty's arrest in the case of stealing gold from the shrine's doorframe is also likely to happen soon. Murari Babu, who was the administrative officer who forged documents claiming it was copper, is also likely to be arrested soon. Although Unnikrishnan Potty has been repeating his statement that he did not receive his share of the gold melted from the layers of the Dwarapalaka sculpture and the shrine doorframe and that it was taken by fraudsters from other states, the Crime Branch does not believe him. The investigation will move to the next stage only if Kalpesh, who took half a kilo of gold from Smart Creations in Chennai, sponsor Nagesh, and Smart Creations CEO Pankaj Bhandari are arrested. It is also essential to recover the gold so that the case does not weaken.

The Crime Branch conducted a raid at Unnikrishnan Potty's residence in Pulimath, Kilimanoor. The search, which began in the afternoon, continues late into the night. All the mobile phones, laptops and documents in the house were examined. The Crime Branch also examined the places where the dry leaves were burned on suspicion of destroying the documents. They are also checking whether gold is hidden in the house. They are searching for documents of the fraud. The Crime Branch is also trying to question the CEO of Smart Creations, who separated the gold, along with Potty.

Kalpesh knows everything

Potti says that Kalpesh is the mastermind of the scam. Kalpesh received the remaining 474.9 grams of gold from Smart Creations after the gold plating. Kalpesh also had a role in taking the gold plates to Bengaluru and later to Chennai. This was as a sponsor. Kalpesh is the one who distributed the separated gold. There is also a suspicion that Kalpesh and Nagesh, Potty's associates, are trying to save someone else.

Script in Bengaluru

• Potti revealed that the script for the gold heist was made in Bengaluru. The things to be done at each stage were predetermined.
• The fact that the gold plating was incorrectly recorded as copper and the plates were not weighed when they were returned are all part of this script.
• The administrative officer recorded the one and a half kilo gold-plated plates as copper plates, and as per the instructions of the fraudsters
• After claiming that the newly installed layers were damaged in 2019, they attempted to remove them in 2024 with the aim of stealing gold.