The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala Temple gold scam on Thursday arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) administrative officer Murari Babu. He is the second accused in the case. Murari was taken into custody from his residence in Perunna on Wednesday night.

The TDB had earlier suspended Babu following a high-level meeting held in Thiruvananthapuram. In 2019, during his tenure as Administrative Officer, Babu had reportedly listed the temple’s gold-clad Dwarapalaka plates as “copper plates” in official records before the assets were sent for repair to Smart Creations in Chennai through Unnikrishnan Potty. When the issue came to light, Babu told the media that he had recorded them as copper since it was the base metal used, adding that the door frames of the Sreekovil were also sent for gold plating that year.

On Tuesday, the Kerala High Court directed the SIT to conduct a detailed probe after reviewing the team’s preliminary report, noting that serious damage and loss of gold plating on the Dwarapalakas had been detected as early as 2024. The court observed that despite earlier records showing gold retention and warranty details, officials bypassed a transparent tender process and once again handed over the idols to Unnikrishnan Potty in 2025. It also expressed doubts over whether the Dwarapalakas returned were the same ones entrusted in 2019.

The HC held that all Devaswom officials shared responsibility for failing to weigh and record the idols during refixation and suspected that the 2025 re-entrustment was meant to cover up the 2019 pilferage. Calling Potty a person with “dubious antecedents,” the court said officials had wilfully concealed irregularities.

The SIT has been instructed to expand its probe beyond the Dwarapalakas and side frames, identify colluding officials, and seize the TDB’s minutes books. The case will be heard again on November 5.