7 months ago
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The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the “misappropriation” of gold-plated copper coverings enveloping the chromatic carvings and sculptures astatine the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple has reportedly named 11 persons arsenic superior suspects successful the sensational case.
The SIT has arraigned Unnikrishnan Potti, whom the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) had contracted successful 2019, to reconstruct the “fraying” gilded coverings, arsenic the premier fishy successful the politically tempestuous case.
The SIT has besides brought astatine slightest 9 TDB officials, including 2 erstwhile presidents and Devasom Commissioners, some of whom are the Left Democratic Front (LDF) government’s governmental appointees, nether the ambit of its rapidly evolving probe, which is strictly nether the wraps arsenic per the High Court’s order.
The SIT has indicted the suspects for cheating, assurance trickery, conspiracy and theft of temple property.
Discrepancy successful weight
The “discrepancy” successful the value of the panels returned to the temple aft restoration, the anticipation of duplication of the artefacts portion successful Mr. Potti’s protracted custody, the TDB’s misleading grading of the gilded coverings arsenic made of axenic copper, and the worship of the temple artefacts successful the homes of affluent devotees successful Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai were nether the SIT probe.
Notably, Mr. Potti made himself the people of the probe aft helium sensationally revealed successful September that 2 gold-copper coverings helium had “donated” to the temple successful 2019 were “missing.”
The startling “disclosure” came successful the run-up to the TDB-sponsored Global Ayyappa Sangamam, wrong-footing the ruling LDF authorities and providing Opposition parties with ammunition to scandalise the organisers.
However, the contention took a crisp crook with the vigilance recovering the panels from the location of Mr. Potti’s sister successful Thiruvananthapuram days aboriginal and, consequently, laying the crushed for the ongoing High Court-monitored SIT probe.
Raised reddish flags
In a caller study to the High Court, the TDB’s interior vigilance raised cautionary reddish flags astir Mr. Potti’s motives for accepting the restoration declaration and his ”questionable insider relation successful temple affairs.”
The portion alleged that Mr. Potti had gradually gained traction wrong the temple orthodoxy by channelling important contributions from affluent Ayyappa devotees to marque sizeable offerings astatine the temple, including underwriting costly poojas and extended feasts, and “facilitating” VIP darshans.
The vigilance submitted that Mr. Potti had worked astatine the temple arsenic an adjunct to an ordained clergyman successful the aboriginal 2010s and allegedly utilized that tenure to unafraid lucrative employment astatine different Ayyappa temples, including Jalahalli, adjacent Bengaluru later.
The SIT is reportedly poised to summon the accused to its campy bureau successful Pathanamthitta for questioning. An SIT plainclothes squad is reportedly successful Chennai to interrogation the store absorption that Mr. Potti had contacted for the restoration work.
