Sabarimala gold theft case: Former administrative officer Sreekumar arrested

Sabarimala/Pathanamthitta: The Special Investigation Team (SIT) on Wednesday arrested S Sreekumar, a former administrative officer of the Sabarimala temple, in connection with the alleged gold smuggling linked to the shrine.

Sreekumar was serving as the administrative officer at the time when gold panels were reportedly removed from the temple. The arrest is part of the ongoing probe into two cases involving the loss of gold plates from the dwarapalaka (guardian deity) idols and the gold-plated doorframes of the Sreekovil (sanctum sanctorum).

Sreekumar's arrest comes barely two weeks after the Kerala High Court rejected his anticipatory bail plea, saying that the allegations against him were made out.

Along with him, the anticipatory bail plea of former Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) secretary S Jayasree was also rejected.

The court had said that if the two accused were granted pre-arrest bail, the entire probe into the loss of gold from the shrine would collapse, and effective investigation "would become meaningless".

The court had also said that both Sreekumar and Jayasree were well aware that the plates were originally gold-clad, but signed the documents that referred to them as made of copper.

Those arrested so far include two former presidents of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB).

Meanwhile, the judicial remand of A. Padmakumar, former president of the Travancore Devaswom Board, in the case related to the theft of gold plating from the Dwarapalaka sculptures, has been extended by two weeks.

Earlier, on November 26, the SIT took into custody A. Padmakumar and a CPM Pathanamthitta district committee member, after obtaining court approval. Former Thiruvabharanam temple commissioner K.S. Baiju was arrested on November 7, while Unnikrishnan Potti, named as the prime accused, was taken into custody on October 17.

The Sabarimala gold controversy pertains to alleged irregularities in the gold plating works carried out at the temple. The issue traces back to a 1998 donation of 30.3 kg of gold and 1,900 kg of copper by industrialist Vijay Mallya, which was meant for cladding the sanctum sanctorum and the wooden carvings of the Sabarimala Ayyappa temple. The SIT continues its investigation into the disappearance and alleged misuse of the donated gold.