KOCHI: The special investigation team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft case on Monday informed the Kerala High Court that it is approaching premier national research institutions and laboratories – including Bhabha Atomic Research Centre, Mumbai; National Metallurgical Laboratory, Jamshedpur; and Defence Metallurgical Research Laboratory, Hyderabad – to undertake specialised tests to determine the quantity of gold missing.
The court granted SIT permission to collect samples from Sannidhanam on February 12. It directed SIT to report whether adequate samples have been taken and the details of the research institutes where SIT proposes to carry out tests to conclusively establish essential aspects, on February 19.
SIT reported that substantial oral evidence has been gathered and that a preliminary scientific examination indicated the original gold cladding had been removed and replaced through fresh surface plating of lesser thickness.
However, SIT is of the view that advanced scientific analysis is indispensable to establish, with precision and objectivity, the extent of material alteration, the nature of metallurgical manipulation, and the quantum of gold originally present and subsequently depleted.