6 months ago
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The Kerala High Court-appointed Special Investigation Team (SIT) inquiring into the misappropriation of gold-plated copper moulds covering the chromatic carvings and sculptures astatine the Sabarimala Ayyappa Temple recorded the 3rd apprehension in the sensational case connected Saturday (November 1, 2025).
Officials identified the fishy arsenic D. Sudheesh Kumar, a erstwhile Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) enforcement serviceman who served astatine the temple successful 2019.
The twelvemonth 2019 is of important value to the investigation. The prime accused successful the case, Unnikrishnan Potti, a erstwhile temple adjunct backed by affluent donors, had offered to refurbish the gilded panels, which were donated to the temple by industrialist Vijay Mallya successful 1998.
The SIT’s lawsuit was that the panels returned by Mr. Potti to the temple aft a protracted play were of lesser value and contained importantly little golden than the originals.
Facilitating pilferage
According to officials, the SIT has arrested Mr. Kumar connected suspicion of having opened the doorway for the alleged pilferage and imaginable replication of the archetypal gilded panels by attesting them arsenic made of axenic copper portion handing them implicit to Mr. Potti for repair.
The probe squad had summoned Mr. Kumar to the State Police Crime Branch bureau astatine Injackal successful Thiruvananthapuram for questioning connected Friday (October 31, 2025). The SIT volition nutrient Mr. Kumar earlier the judicial magistrate’s tribunal successful Ranni successful Pathanamthitta.
Earlier arrest
Last week, the SIT had arrested a serving TDB official, Murari Babu, who was connected deputation to the temple successful 2019, connected akin charges. Mr. Potti and Mr. Babu are presently successful judicial remand astatine the sub-jail successful Thiruvananthapuram.
Timeline
The SIT has reportedly created a timeline of Mr. Potti’s whereabouts during the play erstwhile the spiritual artefacts were successful his possession. It was besides attempting to hint the suspected wealth way successful the crime, including imaginable concern of the proceeds successful onshore oregon with indebtedness sharks.
In its tribunal filings, the SIT has accused Mr. Potti of chartering retired the gilded casings to affluent Ayyappa devotees for backstage worship for sizeable fiscal recompense.
Smelting oregon replication
It has besides not ruled retired the anticipation that the suspects could person smelted the moulds for the gold, oregon perchance replicated them cheaply to merchantability the originals donated by Mr. Mallya to a affluent collector.
Antecedents and connections
The SIT was reportedly probing Mr. Potti’s alleged patrons wrong the temple orthodoxy, who facilitated darshans for affluent concern people, including movie stars, successful Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Chennai.
Officials said Mr. Potti reciprocated by contracting high-ranking Ayyappa temple priests for conducting backstage poojas for sizeable backhanders astatine the homes and concern establishments of affluent devotees.
The SIT had besides inspected the metalworks portion successful Chennai, which Mr. Potti had contracted for restoring the gold-plated copper coverings to their archetypal sheen. However, it has not named the absorption arsenic an accused successful the case.
Political Appointees
Moreover, officials privy to the probe indicated that the probe was edging person to serving and retired TDB officials, including erstwhile TDB presidents and Devaswom Commissioners, respective of them governmental appointees.
