KOCHI: The theft of gold from Sabarimala is part of a larger conspiracy and an organised crime committed by the accused persons, the SIT probing the cases informed the Kerala High Court on Tuesday. It said the accused had a wider plan to dismantle other gold-clad items of the temple’s sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum) and to extract the gold for misappropriation.
The SIT filed a report objecting to the bail pleas of Karnataka jeweller Roddam Pandurangaiah Naga Govardhan and former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar.
It said Govardhan, the tenth accused, along with ninth accused Pankaj Bhandari, first accused Unnikrishnan Potti, and others, hatched a conspiracy to misappropriate the gold cladded on two copper plates each depicting the Dasavatharam and Rasi symbols, one copper plate of the upper door frame, and copper plates of Prabhamandalam, including Sivaroopam and Vyaliroopam, over the door frames (7 plates) installed in front of the sreekovil.
An analysis of call detail records of Govardhan, Potti and Bhandari revealed they met secretly in Bengaluru in October 2025 when the gold theft case was considered by the High Court, the SIT said, adding that the meeting was a post conspiracy to conceal the crime they committed in 2019.
The report said the accused misappropriated the cladded gold without considering its immense aesthetic value and religious sanctity.
“As that property belongs to Lord Ayyappa and TDB is its custodian, the warranty certificate had to be issued in the board’s name. However, it has not done so. The gold-plated door frame plates were brought back to Sabarimala by Potti, that too without a TDB escort, and no mahazar was prepared either at Smart Creations, Chennai, or Sabarimala.
The plates’ weight was not recorded during reinstallation. All these depict the connivance, conspiracy and involvement of accused in the commission of the offences,” the SIT said.
Devaswom board officials committed malpractice, SIT tells High Court
“Despite having clear knowledge that the plates were gold-clad in 1998, none of the TDB officials enquired about the gold that was stripped from the plates at Smart Creations. By not effectively supervising the works at Smart Creations, by not taking the weights of the gold-plated door frame plates, connected plates and dwarapalaka plates and pillar plates on reinstallation, and by not making prompt entries in the relevant registers, the devaswom officials committed grave official malpractice, which led to the commission of misappropriation,” said the report, adding that the acts and omissions by TDB officials from the part of Devaswom officials are tantamount to official misconduct, thereby abetting and aiding Potti and others to misappropriate the gold.
The SIT said Govardhan’s contention that he had given back the full amount of gold to TDB was inappropriate in law. It said the gold cladding falls in the Thiruvabharanams category, and is the eternal property of Lord Ayyappa. It has immense aesthetic, divine and eternal values, it said.
The SIT said Govardhan transferred the amount in favour of the executive officer, Sabarimala, Sree Annadhana Trust, Sabarimala, and to Potti, not to the TDB, the ultimate custodian of the valuables. “Moreover, the misappropriated divine gold of Lord Ayyappa could never be compensated through any other means,” the report said. The Dwrapalaka plates and side pillar plates were taken to the shop of Naresh at Hyderabad, a goldsmith and friend of Govardhan, as per his direction for repair.
The probe revealed that Naresh informed Govardhan that the articles were clad with gold and that he could not carry out the repair, said the SIT, adding that this showed Govardhan knew these articles were gold clad even before the stripping. After three weeks, the items were brought back to Smart Creations, Chennai, for stripping of gold and further gold plating. This, the SIT, said was part of the criminal nexus among the accused.