THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has formally handed over a complaint to the State Police Chief seeking further investigation into the findings of the board’s vigilance wing on the missing gold at Sabarimala Lord Ayyappa temple. Earlier in the day, the High Court had directed the vigilance to submit its report to the board for handing over to the police.
The investigation will be conducted by the Special Investigation Team formed by the High Court recently. The SIT will begin its probe by quizzing Unnikrishnan Potti and 10 TDB officers indicted in the report, it is learnt. According to the vigilance, the officers colluded with Potti in the handover of the gold-cladded panels to Potti and the replacement with gold-plated panels.
S Jayasree, former secretary of the TDB, is alleged to have facilitated the smooth handover of the materials to Potti, according to the vigilance. The then board presided by A Padmakumar issued an order for conducting the maintenance work under the sponsorship of Potti and monitoring by officers led by the then devaswom commissioner. The subsequent implementation order issued by Jayasree, however, gave a freehand to Potti, according to the vigilance.
The report has recommended further investigation and action against all the officers. The vigilance spared the present board members and officers for the 2025 maintenance work, again under the sponsorship of Potti.
The only lapse was the non-communication of the maintenance work to the special commissioner assigned by the High Court. Smart Creations, the company where the repair works were done, gave a statement to the vigilance that Potti misappropriated the gold derived from the panels brought for maintenance in 2019, according to the report.
TDB welcomes Kerala HC directive
Welcoming the HC order, the TDB said the court’s decision vindicated the position taken by the government and the board. “The board had asked the HC to order a comprehensive investigation and bring the accused before law. The board wants the people who defrauded the wealth of Sabarimala and those who facilitated it to be punished,” said a statement issued by the board. It sought everyone’s cooperation for the arrangements for the upcoming Mandalam-Makaravilakku pilgrimage at Sabarimala.