Sabarimala gold scam: Accused to move for bail, citing absence of records on gold plating

Pathanamthitta: The discovery of key documents related to the 1998 gold plating of the Sabarimala temple’s sanctum sanctorum and Dwarapalaka idols has breathed new life into the gold scam probe — and triggered a series of unusual legal manoeuvres by the accused. It was only after this development that the accused filed a fresh bail application, claiming there were no records to prove that gold had been used to plate the Dwarapalaka idol and the temple’s door frames.

Records pertaining to the gold plating work carried out at the sanctum sanctorum by UB Group chairman Vijay Mallya were recovered from the Devaswom headquarters on October 31. The 420-page file contained comprehensive details, including the Kerala High Court’s permission granted to Mallya, various orders issued by the Devaswom Board, and documents related to the import of 22-carat gold from Switzerland.

After photocopies of the documents were taken, the Devaswom Chief Engineer handed the records over to the Special Investigation Team (SIT). It is learnt that the Vigilance wing and some senior Devaswom officials had also examined these documents earlier. According to the records, a total of 31.2528 kg of gold and 1,904 kg of 22-gauge copper sheets were used for the gold plating of the sanctum sanctorum. The total expenditure is recorded as ₹1,75,21,153.

The SIT has found evidence of a major conspiracy behind the decision to hand over the gold sheets to Unnikrishnan Potti and the subsequent alteration of entries to show them as copper. The team has also concluded that Padmakumar played a role in the conspiracy.

Padmakumar is an accused in both the Dwarapalaka idol case and the door frame case. Meanwhile, N Vasu is the third accused in the case relating to the handing over of the door frames for gold plating after deliberately recording gold panels as copper. The SIT has found that Vasu, who was then the Travancore Devaswom Board Commissioner, issued the instructions to record the gold sheets on the wooden panels as copper. Based on this finding, he was later arraigned as an accused.

There is now a widespread allegation that the renewed bail efforts are aimed at saving the CPM’s face, as the alleged involvement of party leaders in the gold scam is believed to have contributed to its setback in the local body elections.

Panchaloha idols are not auctioned, clarifies TDB
Meanwhile, the SIT has received statements alleging that as many as four Panchaloha idols were smuggled out of Sabarimala and purchased by a Chennai native identified as D Mani. A detailed probe is underway to verify these claims.

Several groups of devotees trek to Sabarimala carrying idols to be offered at the hill shrine. These idols — made of Panchaloha, silver and gold — are received at the Devaswom administrative office, where receipts are issued. The Devaswom has reiterated that idols of significant value are not sold through auction.