Devaswom commissioner ordered officials to describe gold-plated Sabarimala panels as copper: SIT to court

The Special Investigation Team (SIT), probing into the Sabarimala temple gold heist case, has told the court that the gold-plated layers on the Dwarapalaka sculptures at the Sabarimala shrine were made of copper.

The SIT, in the custody application filed while producing the first accused Unnikrishnan Potty in the Ranni court, stated that it was the then Devaswom Commissioner and the third accused in the case, N Vasu, who instructed the officials to write that the gold-plated layers on the Dwarapalaka sculptures at the Sabarimala shrine were made of copper.

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The SIT states that Mahasar was written by the then administrative officer and sixth accused in the case, Murari Babu, as directed by N Vasu.

The application also states that Unnikrishnan Potty was entrusted with the task of mixing gold and taking them to Smart Creations in Chennai with the knowledge of the then Travancore Devaswom Board(TDB) office bearers. The TDB was then headed by A. Padmakumar, with KT. Shankaradas and N. Vijayakumar as members. These three persons are also accused in the case.

N Vasu became the president of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) in November 2019 , eight and a half months after retiring as Devaswom commissioner. The then Sabarimala Executive Officer, D. Sudheesh Kumar, who is currently in remand as the fifth accused in the case, was Vasu’s personal secretary during his stint as TDB chief . Vasu was the Devaswom Commissioner from February 1, 2018 to March 31, 2019.

The SIT is learnt to have concluded that the gold theft took place with the knowledge of the top brass in the Travancore Devaswom Board(TDB) . The Special Investigation Team (SIT) has on Monday interrogated former Travancore Devaswom Board(TDB) president N. Vasu as part of the investigation into the case. Former TDB president N. Padmakumar will also be questioned shortly, it is learnt.