Sabarimala gold missing row: Kerala High Court forms SIT to probe reduced weight of gold-clad plates of Dwarapalaka

Kochi: The Kerala High Court on Monday directed the formation of 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.

A bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and K V Jayakumar ordered the constitution of SIT after the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Vigilance team submitted an interim report on its preliminary investigation into the matter.

Earlier, the court had directed the TDB Vigilance team to investigate the reduced weight of Dwarapalakas after they were sent to a Chennai-based firm for electroplating, which was sponsored by businessman Unnikrishnan Potty in 2019.

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. Officials from the Cyber Police have also been included in the team.

According to government sources, the state government suggested the names of the officers to be part of the SIT to the Kerala High Court. Sasidharan was selected for his high track record in investigating complex criminal cases, including the 2022 Elanthoor human sacrifice case. The High Court ordered that the investigation be conducted confidentially and that reports be submitted directly to it.

Last week, the court had ordered a comprehensive inventory of all valuables, including gold, at the Sabarimala temple under the supervision of retired Justice K T Sankaran. As part of the probe, TDB Vigilance had questioned Potty for two days, after which the report was filed in the court. Meanwhile, Devaswom Minister VN Vasavan welcomed the Kerala High Court decision of forming SIT to probe the incident.