The Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the Sabarimala gold scam has arrested former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) member Ajikumar, the fifth accused in the case, taking the total number of arrests on Thursday to two.

Earlier in the day, the SIT had arrested former TDB president P S Prasanth, who is alleged to have played a key role in the decision to send the gold-plated panels from the Sabarimala temple to Chennai-based Smart Creations for repair in September 2025.

According to the SIT, Ajikumar allegedly misused his position as a Devaswom Board member to grant administrative approvals and process files related to sending the Dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols to Chennai.

The investigators claimed that communication recovered between board officials and the accused indicated that Ajikumar was aware that prime accused Unnikrishnan Potty had allegedly retained quantities of gold removed from the idols during the 2019 replating work. The SIT alleged that instead of taking corrective action, board members sanctioned another replating process in 2025 to conceal the alleged irregularities.

The case relates to the removal of the gold-clad idols from Sabarimala and their transfer to Smart Creations in Chennai in 2019 under the pretext of repair work. The SIT has alleged that the original gold layers were removed and replaced with thin electroplating, resulting in suspected gold loss. The agency further alleges that when the plating deteriorated and exposed the copper surface, another transfer to Chennai was arranged in 2025.