Crime Branch was told of vaji vahanam in house, still did 'mockery of search', got 8 cheques in 8-hr raid: Sabarimala tantri's bail plea

Sabarimala tantri Kandararu Rajeevaru, who made damning allegations against the CPM-led government in his bail plea, has also targeted the Special Investigation Team for conducting a 'mockery of search' in his house. In January 2026, a day after tantri was arrested, the SIT conducted an eight-hour-long search in his residence in Chengannur.

During the raid, the team also seized 'vaji vahanam', a part of the temple flagmast of the Sabarimala temple, which was replaced in 2017. The High Court recently ordered a vigilance probe into the alleged misappropriation of gold and cash received for the installation of the new flag mast at Sannidhanam in 2017.

In his bail petition, tantri claims that he had informed about the possession of vaji vahanam to the SIT and even volunteered to produce it before the Crime Branch if it was of any help to their cause. Prior to his arrest on January 9, 2026, tantri was quizzed twice by the investigation team. According to Rajeevaru, he had also shown the artefact to the Chief Vigilance and Security Officer of Sabarimala temple during the questioning and the team members had also taken photographs of the item. Tantri had also written to the Devaswom officials to take back the vaji vahanam but the board expressed its unwillingness to do so.

The search list of the Crime Branch shows 10 articles were seized from tantri's house. Out of these, 8 items were cheques/cheque books belonging to the three accounts of the petitioner, one item is the passbook and the last item was vaji vahanam. "The vaji vahanam which was offered many times was illegally made part of the search and seizure," tantri said in his petition. The Vigilance court recently granted bail to tantri observing that the SIT didn't have any evidence to link him with the Sabarimala gold scam. He was named as 13th and 16th accused in two cases related to the alleged pilferage of gold from door frames and Dwarapalaka idols.

The seizure of vaji vahanam from tantri's residence later ballooned into a major row with parties trading allegations that the flag mast installation in 2017 was fraught with irregularities. Later, based on a report filed by the Chief Vigilance Officer of the Devaswom and the SIT, the HC called for a vigilance probe.

Even as the debate raged over the handover of vaji vahanam to tantri, Devaswom Minister V N Vasavan told the assembly that the transfer of item to Rajeevaru was unauthorised. Responding to a question raised in the Assembly on the authority of the President of the Devaswom Board and its members to hand over vaji vahanam to the tantri to keep as his private possession, Vasavan said that neither party was permitted to do so.

While the SIT expressed suspicion over the flag mast installation, the High Court had in 2017 approved the interim report on the work which cited the transfer of vaji vahanam to tantri. The interim report, filed by Advocate Commissioner ASP Kurup, noted that the vaji vahanam was handed over to the tantri by the then Devaswom Board president following the conduct of the Jeevodswam on February 17, 2017. The report was approved by a Division Bench comprising Justice Ramachandra Menon and Devan Ramachandran.