Sabarimala gold scam: SIT arrests ex-TDB chief Padmakumar, trouble for CPM ahead of local body polls

The CPM plunged into a political crisis amid the local body poll campaign, with the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold theft, arresting former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president  and CPM leader A Padmakumar on Thursday. He had served as the TDB chief when the first accused in the case, Unnikrishnan Potty, approached the board in 2019 to have the Dwarapalaka idols of the Sabarimala temple gold-plated at his expense. Padmakumar is the eighth accused in the case, and he allegedly sanctioned the transport of door frames of the sanctum sanctorum for gold plating.

An order was issued on July 5, 2019, by the TDB permitting the transport of the idols for gold-plating works in Chennai. 

The SIT had earlier arrested Unnikrishnan Potty, former TDB Commissioner N Vasu, former administrative officer Murari Babu, former executive officer D Sudheesh Kumar and ex-Thiruvabharanam commissioner K S Baiju in connection with the case. The custodial interrogation of the accused has hinted that there were deliberate attempts from the Devaswom officials to misrepresent records and falsify statements to ensure pecuniary advantage for Potty. 

The CPM leadership has defiantly maintained that the party had nothing to do with the pilferage in Sabarimala. The CPM will, however, have a hard time holding onto that stand, as Padmakumar, a former MLA, is also a member of the Pathanamthitta District Committee. CPM state secretary M V Govindan, who faced questions from reporters on Thursday following the arrest, said the party will not protect anyone, but added, as an afterthought, that only an arrest has been made and the court will decide on other aspects. 

The timing of the arrest doesn't augur well for the CPM, as the SIT arrested Padmakumar a day before nominations for the local body polls were submitted. He was arrested after an interrogation lasting more than 4 hours at the Crime Branch office. 

The SIT has invoked sections under the Prevention of Corruption Act, and Padmakumar will be produced before the Special Judge, Vigilance, Kollam. The investigation team has slapped the accused with charges of theft, criminal misappropriation, breach of trust, falsification of records, and related offences.

The alleged fraud came to light after it was found that in the mahazar prepared during the removal of the plates, the gold-cladded copper sheets were wrongly described as copper plates. Later, the Devaswom officials also facilitated the transport of the pedestal on which the idols were placed. 

The probe found out that while the gold-plated items were refixed at Sannidhanam, the weight of the idols and the pedestal was not recorded. The High Court has expressed apprehension that the plates produced by Unnikrishnan Potty before Smart Creations, Chennai, might have been a separate set of copper plates. 

The investigation also revealed that Potty had sent an e-mail to the former TDB president, in which he admitted he had retained the gold after the work was completed and suggested using it for a girl's marriage. It was found that, as the President, Padmakumar merely made an endorsement calling for a report from the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner. The High Court found it shocking that no further steps were taken by the board to initiate criminal proceedings against Potty for unlawful retention of gold belonging to the deity. 

It was also found during the probe that the door frames were described as copper plates instead of gold-cladded plates as per the mahazar prepared in May 2019.