Former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) president A Padmakumar, who was arrested for his alleged involvement in Sabarimala gold theft, knowingly misrepresented facts to facilitate fraud, according to the remand report submitted in the Vigilance court by the Special Investigation Team (SIT).

Padmakumar, who is arraigned as the eighth accused in the case related to the illegal transport of door panels of the sanctum sanctorum and Dwarapalaka idols of Sabarimala temple for gold plating, was arrested by the SIT following interrogation on Thursday.

According to the report, Padmakumar was in the know that the panels were plated with gold and yet he miscategorised them as copper casings. “On March 19, 2019, the Travancore Devaswom Board convened a meeting under the chairmanship of the then Devaswom President, Padmakumar.

Although he was aware that the copper plates contained gold sheets, he deliberately struck off the reference to ‘brass’ in the Board note and, in his handwriting, replaced the term ‘gold-plated copper plates’ with ‘copper plates’. He then wrote ‘approved’ and signed the document, thereby failing in his official duty. TDB subsequently took its decision on this basis,” the report states.

The SIT further notes that, based on this board decision, the TDB Secretary issued the official proceedings, which enabled the first accused, Unnikrishnan Potty, to obtain the treasured materials belonging to the deity. Potty later transported the items to Chennai, where he and the other accused removed the gold. The SIT states that Padmakumar facilitated this act.

The report adds that Padmakumar, a public servant, failed to verify how the work was carried out, whether it was properly completed, or whether mandatory inspections were conducted when the materials were returned. This lapse, investigators say, allowed Potty and others to gain wrongful financial benefits, causing loss to both the Travancore Devaswom and the Sabarimala Devaswom.

Padmakumar served as the TDB President when Potty, approached the Board in 2019 seeking permission to gold-plate the Dwarapalaka idols of the Sabarimala temple at his own expense. The Board later issued an order on July 5, 2019, permitting the transport of the idols to Chennai for gold-plating.

The SIT had earlier arrested Unnikrishnan Potty, former TDB Commissioner N Vasu, former Administrative Officer Murari Babu, former Executive Officer D Sudheesh Kumar, and former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner K S Baiju.

The custodial interrogation of the accused indicated deliberate attempts by Devaswom officials to misrepresent records and falsify statements to provide pecuniary advantage to Potty.