Kerala Sabarimala Temple Gold Case; TDB Devaswom Board | High Court | Sabarimala Gold Theft Case: Board will take action on 9 officials: TDB President said – Decision on action against others will be taken in the board meeting on October 14

Thiruvananthapuram3 minutes ago

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The Vigilance Wing of Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) has decided to take action against 9 officials in the gold theft case at Sabarimala Temple. TDB Chairman PS Prasanth on Saturday said action has already been initiated against Deputy Devaswom Commissioner (Haripad) B Murari Babu.

Prasanth said that the decision on the remaining officers will be taken in the board meeting to be held on October 14. Those on whom action will be taken include TDB Secretary Jayashree, Executive Officer Sudish, Administrative Officer Sreekumar and former Thiruvabharanam Commissioner KS Baiju.

Prasanth said that the officer who succeeded Baiju was aware of the reduction in the weight of the gold, but did not report it.

Prasanth said on political rhetoric that-

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Leader of Opposition in Kerala Assembly VD Satheesan should give responsible statements. The present board has nothing to do with this issue, yet why are allegations being leveled against us. Preparations are underway for the Sabarimala pilgrimage season and around 60 lakh devotees are expected this year. Such allegations only affect those who are working to organize the Sabarimala season.

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According to him, the 2019 board order directed that the gatekeeper plates be handed over to the supervision of the Thiruvabharanam Commissioner, and the responsibility be handed over to Unnikrishnan Potti.

On Friday, the court had given instructions to constitute SIT.

The Kerala High Court on Friday said that from the investigation so far it appears that gold has been misappropriated from the two idols (gatekeepers) kept at the gate of Sabarimala temple. The court directed to register a criminal case in the matter and the Special Investigation Team (SIT) to start investigation.

A bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and KV Jayakumar also directed the SIT to file the investigation report within six weeks and submit the status report of the investigation once every two weeks. The court said that no information related to the investigation should be leaked.

The bench further said that investigation so far has revealed that a large quantity of gold was entrusted to Unnikrishnan Potti (the sponsor offering gold plating). The court said that approximately 474.9 grams of gold was given to Potti.

Unnikrishnan had asked for the remaining gold for a girl’s marriage.

In the last hearing on October 6, the High Court had constituted SIT to investigate the case of theft of gold from the idols of Dwarpalak. The court also referred to the email of Unnikrishnan Potti, which he had sent to the Chairman of TDB on December 9, 2019.

Unnikrishnan had written in the email – I have some gold left after coating the main gate of Sabarimala sanctum and the idols of the gatekeepers. I want to collaborate with TDB to use it for the marriage of a girl who needs help. Please give your opinion in this regard.

High Court said- TDB official also involved in misappropriation The court said that the idols handed over to Unnikrishnan for gold plating in 2019 did not merely have copper plates, but had been gold plated in 1999. Due to this revelation, a case of theft has been made.

The court said-

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This revelation is disturbing. This shows that even the TDB official Unnikrishnan Are mixed with. In the whole matter only Unnikrishnan And not Smart Creations company but TDB officials are also responsible. Records clearly show that TDB officials were aware of the transactions and illegal transfer of gold.

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The gold plate below this gatekeeper statue had gone missing.

The gold plate below this gatekeeper statue had gone missing.

TDB suspends commissioner B Murari The TDB of Sabarimala temple on Tuesday suspended Haripad Deputy Devaswom Commissioner B Murari Babu pending investigation. According to the board, Babu had submitted a report to the Sabarimala Executive Officer on July 17, 2019. In this he had wrongly described the gold statues installed on both sides of the entrance of the temple as copper. The board considered this a serious mistake.

On the other hand, Babu denied the allegations. Babu claimed that in 2019 he had given a preliminary report after taking the opinion of the temple tantri. In the report it was written as copper plate because in reality copper was clearly visible. Therefore instructions were given to offer gold.

High Court had reprimanded TDB on 29 September

The Division Bench of Justices Raja Vijayaraghavan V and Justice KV Jayakumar came down heavily on TDB during the hearing in the case on September 29. Said that the board did not maintain proper register of valuables of the temple, which helped in hiding the irregularities.

The court said that records of jewelery and coins offered by devotees are maintained in a register, in which description, date, receipt and quality are written, but there is no record of other things like Kodimaram, Dwarapalaka idols, Peedam.

The court noted that there was no entry of giving these goods to anyone. While reinstalling the Dwarapalaka idols, their weight was also not recorded, which was done deliberately so that the shortage of 4 kg of gold would not be revealed.

Registers for gold plating on roof also missing

The court said that the register of the work of applying gold layer on the roof of Srikovil in 1999 is also missing. According to the artisans, more than 30 kg of gold was used then, but there is no official record.

The court directed that a complete inventory and evaluation of all the valuables of the temple should be done with the help of experts. The negligence of Devaswom Board officials should also be investigated. The next hearing of the case will now take place at the end of October.

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