<p>Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Monday alleged a conspiracy behind the episode of the "missing" gold-coated peedam (pedestal) of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at Sabarimala, which was later recovered from the residence of a sponsor’s relative.</p>.<p>Vasavan accused sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty of staging a "drama" by hiding the peedam and then alleging that it had gone missing from TDB custody.</p>.<p>"What we understand is that after hiding the peedam, Potty came out with a missing allegation and played a drama. Naturally, we have to suspect whether there is a conspiracy," the minister told reporters here.</p>.<p>He added that further steps would be taken as per the Kerala High Court’s directions.</p>.Gold pedestal missing from Sabarimala recovered from sponsor's relative's home.<p>The peedam’s existence came to light after the High Court recently ordered a probe into the reduced weight of the gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalakas. Following this, Potty revealed that he had also sponsored a gold-plated pedestal in 2019 during plating works, which he claimed was missing from the hill shrine.</p>.<p>A TDB vigilance team led by SP Sunil Kumar later traced the peedam to the house of one of Potty’s relatives at Venjaramoodu.</p>.<p>TDB president P S Prasanth welcomed the recovery, but alleged that Potty deliberately misled the public to tarnish the Global Ayyappa Sangamam.</p>.<p>"He lied after knowing that it was in his custody. Based on his claim, the opposition even branded me a thief. I believe this was part of a conspiracy to take the shine off the Sangamam," Prasanth said.</p>.<p>Prasanth maintained that while the board had nothing to hide and the vigilance team had acted transparently, there was a delay in reporting the matter to the Special Commissioner. "A detailed investigation has to be conducted on Potty. We didn’t even know about the golden peedam until he made the allegation," he added.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Potty, who is based in Bengaluru, denied any ill intention.</p>.<p>He claimed that he was unaware that the peedam was with his worker, Vasudevan, in Kottayam. "Only after media reports about the missing peedam did Vasudevan contact me and told me it was in his custody. I then shifted it to my relative’s house in Thiruvananthapuram," he said.</p>
<p>Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan and the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) on Monday alleged a conspiracy behind the episode of the "missing" gold-coated peedam (pedestal) of the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols at Sabarimala, which was later recovered from the residence of a sponsor’s relative.</p>.<p>Vasavan accused sponsor Unnikrishnan Potty of staging a "drama" by hiding the peedam and then alleging that it had gone missing from TDB custody.</p>.<p>"What we understand is that after hiding the peedam, Potty came out with a missing allegation and played a drama. Naturally, we have to suspect whether there is a conspiracy," the minister told reporters here.</p>.<p>He added that further steps would be taken as per the Kerala High Court’s directions.</p>.Gold pedestal missing from Sabarimala recovered from sponsor's relative's home.<p>The peedam’s existence came to light after the High Court recently ordered a probe into the reduced weight of the gold-clad copper plates of the Dwarapalakas. Following this, Potty revealed that he had also sponsored a gold-plated pedestal in 2019 during plating works, which he claimed was missing from the hill shrine.</p>.<p>A TDB vigilance team led by SP Sunil Kumar later traced the peedam to the house of one of Potty’s relatives at Venjaramoodu.</p>.<p>TDB president P S Prasanth welcomed the recovery, but alleged that Potty deliberately misled the public to tarnish the Global Ayyappa Sangamam.</p>.<p>"He lied after knowing that it was in his custody. Based on his claim, the opposition even branded me a thief. I believe this was part of a conspiracy to take the shine off the Sangamam," Prasanth said.</p>.<p>Prasanth maintained that while the board had nothing to hide and the vigilance team had acted transparently, there was a delay in reporting the matter to the Special Commissioner. "A detailed investigation has to be conducted on Potty. We didn’t even know about the golden peedam until he made the allegation," he added.</p>.<p>Meanwhile, Potty, who is based in Bengaluru, denied any ill intention.</p>.<p>He claimed that he was unaware that the peedam was with his worker, Vasudevan, in Kottayam. "Only after media reports about the missing peedam did Vasudevan contact me and told me it was in his custody. I then shifted it to my relative’s house in Thiruvananthapuram," he said.</p>