5 months ago
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The Kerala High Court-appointed peculiar probe squad (SIT) probing the theft of gold-plated copper artefacts from Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple has deferred signaling the connection of erstwhile Kerala Home Minister and elder Congress person Ramesh Chennithala to an unannounced date.
The SIT was slated to grounds Mr Chennithala’s connection astatine the Kerala Police Crime Branch bureau astatine 11 a.m. connected Wednesday (December 10, 2025). The MLA’s bureau said the SIT contacted them astatine 10 a.m. and informed that the investigating serviceman was indisposed without citing immoderate reason. The SIT has besides not acceptable a circumstantial day to grounds Mr Chennithala’s statement.
Last week, Mr Chennithala wrote to the Additional Director General of Police, Crime Branch and Law and Order, H. Venkatesh, stating that helium had credible accusation astir a “global conspiracy” involving planetary gangs which commercialized successful revered objects looted from spiritual places of worship for merchantability to affluent collectors.
Mr Chennithala told reporters that a non-resident Keralite businessman had approached him, stating helium was consenting to supply much accusation astir the transgression to the SIT. He said the industrialist was hesitant to attack the SIT independently and had sought his intervention. Mr Chennithala said the informant had expressed willingness to springiness an authoritative deposition in-camera.
Claims of nonstop knowledge
Mr Chennithala said the businessperson claimed to person nonstop cognition that the theft of gilded moulds encasing the chromatic carvings, sculptures flanking the entranceway to the sanctum sanctorum and the presiding deity’s doorway was the effect of an entrenched conspiracy betwixt Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) officials, including governmental appointees and planetary rackets which commercialized successful specified invaluable objects, including antiques.
Officials said the SIT would grounds Mr Chennithala’s connection nether Section 180 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
Mr Chennithala’s voluntary connection comes astatine a clip erstwhile the SIT was reportedly poised to analyse the High Court’s misgivings astir whether the suspects had replicated the gilded panels and sold the originals to affluent collectors.
However, an authoritative said, the gilded panels donated to the temple successful 1998 by industrialist Vijay Mallya were not antiques. However, helium said, the objects possessed an unquantifiable individuality value, fixed that devotees equate them with the temple and its spiritual significance.
He said the gilded moulds, fashioned to screen the sculptures and doorway, broadly fell into the class of reliquaries, ornate casings for objects of spiritual value, and were hence pricey connected the planetary achromatic marketplace for specified artefacts. However, tracing specified objects sold clandestinely to affluent collectors and restituting them to the Ayyappa temple proved challenging.
For instance, officials noted that the theft of the “emerald” idol, Maragatha Lingam, from the Adi Sankara Janmabhoomi Temple astatine Kalady successful Ernakulam successful 2009 remained untraced contempt the champion efforts of the Kerala Police Temple Theft Special Investigation Team. “Rumours linked the theft to planetary antique smugglers. The constabulary estimated the idol, donated to the temple by the king of Mysore successful 1910, to beryllium astatine slightest 500 years old”, helium added.
Officials said the SIT’s tribunal filings indicated that the archetypal gilded encasings were either altered, smelted, oregon different tampered with. When they were returned to the temple aft restoration successful 2019, auditors noted a lessening successful weight. In 2025, a Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) Vigilance introspection revealed a little golden contented successful the alloy.
The SIT had traced the Chennai-based metallic works portion contracted by the premier accused, Unnikrishnan Potti, to reconstruct the artefacts to their archetypal aureate sheen.
It besides recorded statements from affluent celebrities who chartered retired the panels from Mr Potti for backstage worship astatine their houses and concern premises successful 2019.
Meanwhile, the Vigilance Inquiry Commissioner and Special Judge, Kollam, volition perceive the Enforcement Directorate’s plea for SIT records to probe the suspected money-laundering space successful the case.
