KOZHIKODE: The probe into the Sabarimala gold heist has turned into a major political confrontation in Kerala, with the police taking a Congress leader, N Subrahmanian, into custody over a controversial social media post linked to the case.
N Subrahmanian, a member of the KPCC Political Affairs Committee, was taken into custody by the Kozhikode Chevayur police for allegedly sharing a photograph depicting Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan alongside the prime accused in the gold theft case, Unnikrishnan Potti.
The core of the controversy involves the alleged theft of gold from the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) and the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols of the Sabarimala temple. The Special Investigation Team (SIT) found that several kilograms of gold were missing from the sacred items.
Prime accused Unnikrishnan Potti, a priest-turned-businessman, allegedly siphoned off gold under the guise of electroplating and renovation work between 2014 and 2019. Potti was arrested in October after a ten-hour questioning session. The SIT has since arrested multiple high-profile figures, including former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) presidents A Padmakumar and N Vasu.
Political temperature soared when N Subrahmanian shared a picture on Facebook showing Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan with Unnikrishnan Potti, accompanied by a caption questioning the "deep relationship" between the two. The Chevayur police registered a case under Section 192 of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) and the Kerala Police Act for allegedly attempting to provoke a riot and promote enmity.
Subrahmanian, while being taken from his home after a police search, stated, "I shared a real image taken from a video shared by the Chief Minister's Office itself. This is an attempt to suppress the opposition's activities".
The CPM, however, labelled the image as a "fabricated AI-generated photo". They clarified that the original footage was from a public function in August, and Potti was merely a bystander who was edited into the frame to look like he was in a private conversation with the CM.