KOCHI: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold scam informed the High Court on Monday that, in 2019, Smart Creations, Chennai, had stripped the gold cladding from Sabarimala artefacts using a special substance called “stripping salt,” procured from Mumbai.
The report filed by the SIT before the High Court said that, during the course of the investigation, a sample of the stripping salt was collected and forwarded to the National Metallurgical Laboratory, (NML), Jamshedpur, for analysis. The results are awaited.
The analysis of the special salt is crucial to establish the method used by Smart Creations to strip gold from the artefacts. The SIT also said it had collected details relating to the copper plates purchased in 1998 and that further investigations need to be conducted in Chennai for verification.
Based on the High Court’s directive, samples of certain artefacts were taken from the Sabarimala Sreekovil. However, the Prabhamandalam plates and the upper-side door frame plate could not be dismantled and examined due to difficulties raised by labourers engaged in the dismantling.
To ascertain the actual weight of the artefacts, dismantling them with expert assistance and collecting samples are indispensable. Only then can the actual quantity of cladding on the artefacts be assessed.
Following a request from the SIT, the court granted permission to dismantle the Prabhamandalam plates and the upper-side door frame plate and collect samples with the assistance of experts.
The SIT also submitted reports relating to the investigation into the gold-plated/gold-clad copper plates of the Sabarimala temple, which were forwarded to NML on March 3. The report is highly comprehensive and when read alongside the report by the Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, provides a clear picture of the methodology adopted and sheds light on how the offence was allegedly perpetrated.
The court observed the report contains a detailed narration of events beginning on July 12, 2024, and culminating in the transportation of the Dwarapalaka idol plates, along with details of how the investigation was conducted.
As of now, 408 witnesses have been examined and their statements recorded. Two 1-TB hard disks used in the computer systems at the office of the Executive Officer, Sabarimala, for maintaining records related to the Sabarimala Temple Devaswom, along with one 2-TB hard disk containing data related to the 2018-19 period, have been forwarded to the State Forensic Science Laboratory.