‘More than 5 kg of gold missing from Sabarimala’: Congress demands CBI probe as temple row escalates

The allegations of gold theft in the Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple have snowballed into a high-voltage political row in Kerala, with Leader of the Opposition in the state assembly V.D. Satheesan on Monday demanding a CBI probe in the case.

He said more than 5kg of gold was missing from the hill shrine and accused the government and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) of concealing the matter.

"This is a very serious matter. UB Group and Vijay Mallaya donated more than 30 kg of gold to the Sabarimala Temple for plating various things. Unfortunately, through some middlemen, more than 5kg of that gold was robbed," the Congress leader told reporters.

Protest in assembly

Proceedings in the Kerala Assembly were disrupted on Monday with the Congress-led UDF staging a protest, demanding the resignation of Devaswom Minister V.N. Vasavan.

When their demand for a discussion on the issue was denied by Speaker A.N. Shamseer, the opposition members stormed the well of the House, raising slogans against the government. 

They raised a banner in front of the Speaker's podium, which read "those who have stolen gold of Lord Ayyappa are ambalam vizhungikal (temple thieves)." 

HC forms SIT

Meanwhile, the Kerala High Court on Monday constituted a special investigation team (SIT) to probe alleged irregularities related to the reduced weight of gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at Sabarimala. 

The SIT will be led by Superintendent of Police S. Sasidharan, and its functioning will be supervised by Crime Branch head, Additional Director General of Police H. Venketesh.

The court’s directive came after the TDB Vigilance team submitted an interim report on its preliminary investigation into the matter.

The controversy erupted after it was found that the weight of gold-clad Dwarapalakas had been reduced after they were sent to a Chennai-based firm for electroplating. 

Unnikrishnan Potty, a Bengaluru-based businessman who had sponsored the electroplating, is now under the radar and is being interrogated by the TDB Vigilance.

There were also allegations of a decrease in the gold at Sabarimala since 1998, when industrialist Vijay Mallya sponsored the plating of the sanctum sanctorum.

Last week, the high court had ordered a comprehensive inventory of all valuables, including gold, at the Sabarimala temple under the supervision of retired Justice K.T. Sankaran.