Thiruvananthapuram: Though the Travancore Devaswom Board’s documents mention Unnikrishnan Potty as the sponsor of the gold-plating works on the doors and door-frames of the sanctum sanctorum at Sabarimala Ayyappa temple, the records maintained by Smart Creations in Chennai tell a different story.

Their documents list Govardhan as the sponsor of these works and even the certificate issued on completion of the works bears this name. This discrepancy has been highlighted in the Devaswom Vigilance report.

According to the documents collected by the Devaswom Vigilance team from Smart Creations, Govardhan had supplied a total of 512 grams of gold for gold-plating on three separate occasions. However, none of the present authorities of the Devaswom Board seem to know who this Govardhan is.

The documents further reveal that 321.6 grams of gold were used to plate the doors, while the door-frames were plated with 184 grams. Smart Creations has also stated that 409 grams of gold were extracted from the metal plates of the old doors brought from Sabarimala. If Govardhan had indeed provided the gold for plating both the doors and the lintels, it raises the possibility that he may also have taken possession of the gold extracted from these structures.

According to the Vigilance report, 474.9 grams of gold remained after the work was handed over to one Kalpesh, who Unnikrishnan Potty assigned. However, there is no clarity on the identity of this individual, either. The SIT has named Kalpesh as the second accused in the case, while Potty is the first accused.