The new Cochin Dewaswom Board authorities are reluctant to carry out the auditing of the valuables at Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple here, fearing a CBI inquiry into the gold missing case, alleged sources associated with the Dewaswom.
As per the usual procedure, the auditing must have been conducted by the new board members in the presence of the former board members and the ‘pandam patram’ officer of the board. In the auditing, the new members should see to it that the valuables at the temple tally with that in record book of the temple. It must also be ensured that all the valuables are original.
“The new board is aware of the fact that some temple valuables are not made of pure gold. Also, former Dewaswom Board authorities have not kept any record of the missing valuables of the temple and have not conducted the auditing properly. Now, people in the area and related to the temple are pushing for a CBI inquiry into the valuable missing case. If the new board conducts the auditing and takes the charge of the temple, they will have to answer the CBI about the missing valuables of the case. Hence, even four months after coming into power, the new board has not yet conducted the auditing,” sources said.
“The gold ‘makutam’ weighing 954 gm (around 120 sovereign) and other invaluable gold patterns from the Swarna Kolam went missing. Several golden ensembles on the ‘Nettipattam’ were also missing. The new Dewaswom Board should conduct a proper auditing to get a clear picture of missing valuables of the temple,” they said.
Meanwhile, property owners of the temple blamed the police for not finding out the culprits behind the missing case. “The ‘makutam’ went missing more than a decade ago and the case was first investigated by the Crime Branch and it is currently being investigated by the temple theft special squad. It does not matter whoever investigated the case but the inquiry has not reached anywhere,” they said. The owners also said that they will file an appeal before the High Court to entrust the case with CBI. Meanwhile, Cochin Dewaswom Board assistant commissioner, Manoj, said that the delay in conducting the auditing was not because of the valuables missing case. “We have more than 400 temples under the board to conduct auditing. Without further delay, the auditing at Sree Poornathrayeesa Temple in Tripunithura will be conducted soon,” the assistant commissioner said.
Also, Rajan Thalepilli, the ‘pandam patram’ officer said the auditing will be done using the newly prepared record book of the valuables.